Cognitive dissonance: A state achieved by mixing comedy and the work of Alfred Hitchcock. The 39 Steps (based on a film by Hitchcock based on a book by a former governor general of Canada) cavorts across the boards at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis as its final show of the season.
Richard Hannay (Ryan Colbert) is a man of the world, a bachelor now returned to London in the period just before the outbreak of World War II. And he is bored, bored, bored by everything, although one suspects the correct word for it is jaded. To cure his ennui, since nothing else has worked he makes a desperate decision. He decides to go to the theatre! (A clue he may not be Our Kind of Guy?)
The other three actors in the cast, per the Rep, play 149 people. The woman we first meet when she sits down next to Hannay is our introduction to Olivia Gilliatt. Rounding out the cast are Jimmy Kiefer and Futaba Shioda, particular masters of the quick-change-before-your-very-eyes, and our initial sighting of them is when they’re doing a vaudeville-type act in front of Hannay and the woman. Shots ring out, pandemonium ensues and Hannay ends up with the woman in his flat.
It all goes downhill from there. This is a very physical show, particularly utilizing gymnastic-type activity from Kiefer and Shioda. There’s a lot of movement up and down the aisles and platforms over the voms, those stage exits that go under the audience seats. Props are moved around, crates becoming beds and car seats and more, the turntables onstage being put to full use. There’s a lot of pell-mell afoot. Director Kate Bergstrom moves things into top speed pretty quickly and they remain near that level for much of the show.
Several Hitchcockian references are sprinkled throughout, music, visuals, and phrases (“No – use the rear window!”) but the MacGuffin, to use a word Hitchcock originated (it’s the thing in a film or play that everything revolves around) is pretty vague throughout. It all feels very pasted together, with plot pieces that are almost odd bits strung together. It tries very hard to be a madcap comedy, but doesn’t have the requisite flair.
One of those deceptively simple sets that are very versatile comes from from Stephanie Osin Cohen and lots of good costume work from Tilly Grimes. Broken Chord did the sound design, and trivia buffs need to pay close attention to it for maximum enjoyment. Christina Watanabe’s lighting is quick and very helpful in moving us from one focus to the next.
Good work from the cast and crew. But a script that is as rocky as an unpaved country road.
The 39 Steps
through April 10
Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts
130 Edgar Rd., Webster Groves
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