Staging a show in the third week of semester is no easy task, especially a comedy as chaotic as The 39 Steps, based on the 1915 novel. This play is about a middle-class gentleman who, after being given a mission by a woman before she is murdered, has to uncover what the mysterious 39 Steps is. This bizarre plot is made all the more absurd due to the small cast, especially when considering that 6 actors had to play a ludicrous number of roles. These actors have to display a range from heroes to villains and even inanimate objects!
Though not every part of this play worked, I am still immensely impressed with The 39 Steps and the sheer amount of comedy they managed to squeeze into the runtime! Having to play both the main villain and an old woman in the space of 5 minutes, and being on stage without breaks for the entire show is a hard task but something that the leading cast (Luke Hookham and Lois Jones) accomplish with ease from start to finish. How they managed to keep their energy with only a few minor stumbles is beyond me – I was feeling exhausted just by watching them!
Matthew Heppel and Alex Chan as Clown 1 and Clown 2 saw the majority of the swing work, and I can’t see anyone doing it better. They were a delight to watch and (somehow) made every character unique. Not every character was portrayed with equal quality, and some accents ranged from ‘I think that’s Scottish,’ to comically incomprehensible.
I cannot talk about this play without mentioning Abbie Wright and Izzy Wood as ‘Stage Crew.’ Where everyone else plays characters, they performed as the most bizarre inanimate roles – I found myself chuckling every time they ran on!
There are so many jokes in this play from the first minute so it’s ok that not every part works. Some scenes felt chaotic whilst others didn’t land but for every joke that didn’t make me laugh, there were 4 that did, and I never had time to contemplate on what did or didn’t work. The only thing I can do is recommend that if you fancy seeing something fun, go see these performers!
Rating: ★★★☆☆
The 39 Steps played for one night only in Raynor Lounge at Bar One. For future productions from SUTCo, see @_sutco on Instagram
