Steve On Broadway (SOB)

Did 39 Steps Benefit From Critical Leap?

Did 39 Steps Benefit From Critical Leap?

Last evening, Patrick Barlow's stage adaptation (from an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon) of the Alfred Hitchcock film The 39 Steps opened at Roundabout Theatre Company's American Airlines Theatre. Directed by Maria Aitken, The 39 Steps stars Arnie Burton, Charles Edwards, Jennifer Ferrin and Cliff Saunders.

Most critics offered solid positive reviews.

Complimenting the show, seriously, as "[T]hrowaway theater at its finest," The New York Times' Ben Brantley "But the appeal here is ultimately more to theater aficionados than to movie buffs, and you don’t need to have seen the movie to appreciate the accomplishment of the show. Ms. Aitken and company are using their cinematic template to celebrate the art of instant illusion-making that is theater. Much of the show’s pleasure comes from being in on the magician’s tricks even as, on some primitive level, you accept them....The actors themselves seem to be having a helluva good time. As does the audience. For in addition to providing the relief of being committedly silly in a season of fine dramas about unhappy families, The 39 Steps stands out for its plying of minimal resources to maximal effect."

Calling the comedy "inventively astonishing," New York Post's Clive Barnes offers a three-star review: "The resultant play is a marvelous spoof of the movie, translating Hitchcock's thrills, spills and visuals into elementary stage effects....The play's creators have affectionately pushed Hitchcock's brilliance...into some riotous realm of satire, without losing its essentially Hitchcockian flavor. Aitken, though ultimately in charge of all the fun and games, is much indebted to her actors -- Edwards, Ferrin and her two protean clowns, Burton and Saunders."

Exulting it as "a dizzy delight," Joe Dziemianowicz of New York's Daily News was dazzled: "It's great fun to watch classic Hitchcock scenes come alive through nothing more than simple props and theatrical magic. A high-speed chase aboard a whizzing train is brilliantly re-created with four crates, puffs of smoke, flashing lights and actors game for anything....The production is inventively directed by Maria Aitken....If The 39 Steps makes a misstep, it's having an intermission. Once this fast-paced fun ride leaves the station, you don't want to get off."

Labeling The 39 Steps as "eccentric" and "an interesting diversion," David Rooney of Variety: "The central joke in this frenetic spoof is the utter unsuitability of the material -- with its high-speed chases across moors, rivers, an elevated bridge and the roof of a moving train -- for stage presentation. The dated conventions of '30s filmmaking, the outmoded acting styles, preposterous accents and the loopy dialogue played straight all combine with a tongue-in-cheek performance mode that blends mime, slapstick and Monty Python-esque drollery in a brand of film sendup that's more commonly the domain of television, from 'The Carol Burnett Show' to 'French & Saunders.'"

Deriding the show as a "strenuously silly parody," The New York Sun's Eric Grode was left cold by the production: "[D]espite Maria Aitken's agreeably antic staging and the Herculean efforts of her four hardworking actors, Mr. Barlow pads his scene-by-scene homage with overly obvious references to other Hitchcock films, and sight gags that don't go much of anywhere....But while these four actors may be ready for their close-ups, their sketch-comedy shenanigans are only sporadically ready for prime time."

The limited run of The 39 Steps is currently slated until March 29. I'll be seeing the show over the next month and will let you know what I think.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

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Related Stories:
"39" Steps Into Broadway Opening (January 15, 2008)
39 Steps To The Great White Way (September 6, 2007)
Sunday At The Grosvenor House With Laurence (February 19, 2007)

Labels: Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Film, London, Marian Aitken, Play, Roundabout Theatre, The 39 Steps

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Wednesday, January 16, 2008