BWW Reviews: THE 39 STEPS at Antrim Playhouse

THE 39 STEPS

Antrim Playhouse

Suffern, NY

In the opening scene of "The 39 Steps," Richard Hannay tells us he is bored to tears with his humdrum life. He's equally bored with the media which as he says, only tells tales of "elections and wars and rumors of wars." He decides he needs something "mindless and trivial. Something utterly pointless," to cure his malaise. Suddenly a thought hits him: "I know! I'll go to the theater!"

And so begins a hilariously clever and witty romp through an intricate spy drama, based both on the classic Hitchcock film and the original John Buchan novel of 1915. The production is a triumph of both style and substance, as a tiny cast with virtually no sets and no special effects deliver an evening of non-stop laughs and delightfully charming entertainment.

"The 39 Steps," impressively and flexibly directed by Dana Duff and Wesley Laga, is the final offering of a terrific season at Antrim Playhouse in Suffern (or more precisely, Wesley Hills). The play is performed by a cast of four that often seems like a cast of thousands, as they undergo rapid fire, scene and costume changes. In several scenes they easily play three or four characters apiece, changing costumes right on stage.

Neil Battinelli as Hannay is the only cast member to handle only one character, but he does so in fine fashion, channeling his inner Robert Donat. His overly English accent was a bit hard to decipher in the first scene, but he gradually relaxed into a comfortable droll. Hannay is bored with the London social scene but he soon gets more excitement than he bargained for when a mysterious woman whom he meets at the theater, is murdered in his flat. In no time at all, both German agents and Scotland Yard are chasing him through a hilarious batch of zany misadventures.

A few scattered crates, a step ladder and an armchair are the only props in the show, yet they effortlessly morph into a proper English flat, a theater, a train compartment and a motorcar. The magic of the set is that by the time the show is over you hardly even notice the Spartan staging.

Meg Renton plays all three of the femme fatales in the story. She tries not to evoke the prototypical Hitchcock blonde in her portrayal. Rather, her delivery is over-the-top and daffy, and well suited to the material. She had a genuine and delightful chemistry with Battinelli. Still, the success of the show lays firmly on the shoulders of the two clowns, who must embody dozens of characters each over the course of the evening. Joe DeSpirito and Andrew Deutsch easily steal the show as they bumble and stumble their way through a variety of priceless characters - good and bad, male and female. Playing every other character in the cast is no mean feat, but Mr. DeSpirito and Mr. Deutsch are up to the task and appear to be having a ball in the process.

One does not need to have seen the movie to understand and appreciate the show, but it wouldn't hurt because a knowledge of the movie will more clearly display the genius of some of the scenes. The sendups of several other Hitchcock films, the "Rear Window" reference and the hilarious puppet-plane chase scene right out of "North by Northwest" were both clever and uproarious.

"The 39 Steps" is an homage to old-school escapism and the simple joys that it brought. It is part thriller, part parody, and part vaudeville show, but it is totally entertaining. The audience at the opening performance gave the cast a well-deserved standing ovation at the conclusion, and I suspect there will be many more throughout the run.

Antrim is closing out the 2015 season with a real winner.

"The 39 Steps" continues its run for the rest of June. Performance Dates are

June 5,6,7,12,13,14,19,20,21,26,27,28.

http://www.antrimplayhouse.com/

The Antrim Playhouse

15 Spook Rock Road

Wesley Hills/Suffern,

New York 10901

by Peter Danish

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