Review: The 39 Steps

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 drama The 39 Steps about a sinister spy agency and the lengths it goes to protecting its secret is way better than the Monty Python-like comedy adapted from it by Patrick Barlow. That doesn’t mean this Big Idea Theatre company production isn’t enjoyable—not at all—but the fun is more in the execution than in the story.

A Canadian man in London goes out to the theater one night when he approached by a mysterious woman, a counterespionage agent, who is trying to prevent the theft of top secret information by the mysterious “39 Steps.” She’s soon stabbed in the back, and he’s accused of her murder and must go on the run from authorities all the while trying to discover the secret for which she died. The plot mixes romance, intrigue and espionage in a way that is less believable than when it was in Hitchcock’s hands.

A wildly talented cast of four portrays more than 100 characters as director Jouni Kirjola rushes them through a fast-paced melodrama. Ian Hopps plays Richard Hannay, the man in question; Stephanie Hodson is the dead woman, among others; and Scott Divine and Zachary Scovel play everyone else, male and female. There are times when an actor portrays more than one character at the same time. Quick changes of costumes and accents tests the actors’ considerable talents in this marvel of timing and execution.