THE 39 STEPS

THE 39 STEPS

at the Criterion Theatre
05.09.2015

Last day for Patrick Barlow's send-up of Buchan [and Hitchcock] down in the lovely little Criterion, where the tube trains rumble below and the rich Rococo ceiling glitters above.

A perfect setting for this small-scale shoestring production – it stands in for the Palladium [cue Sunday Night theme] in the dénouement, and its bare stage, fly-ropes and marker tape, a visible reminder of the absurd theatricality of this breathless canter through the familiar plot.

The 1935 film is a constant point of reference – the train [“Coronation Scot” on the soundtrack as the tiny toy chuffs across behind the footlights] and the planes, with Alfred himself one of the wobbly ombres chinoises.

Melodramatic over-acting, and a breathlessly physical style, keeps the pace lively for 100 minutes – the cast has changed almost as often as the Mousetrap since Charles Edwards brought his Hannay to these boards back in 2006. The pipe, the pencil moustache and the stiff upper lip now belong to Daniel Llewellyn-Williams, the women are [mostly] played by Kelly Hotten, and the quick-change broker's men – police officers, Scots matrons and travellers in ladies' underwear – are dazzlingly done by Gary Scotton [a memorably inaudible orator as well as Mr Memory] and understudy Darryl Clark.

This peerless production, directed by Maria Aitken, is off on tour; its place at the Criterion to be taken by Bert Bacharach, I believe.

THE 39 STEPS

John Buchan adapted by Patrick Barlow

at the Criterion Theatre, Piccadilly Circus

06.04.09

A cheeky false proscenium, in this bijou theatre, for the tiny boxes where the heroic Hannay gets the girl and saves the day.

Rufus Wright was the stiff-upper-lip, snobbery-with-violence protagonist, and the hundred or more other characters were played by Laura Rogers [most of the women, all of the love interest] and Sean Kearns and Dermot Canavan.

The original plot was present, and mostly correct, though it has to compete for space in this 90 minute romp with nods to Hitchcock, physical comedy routines and good wholesome fun. The genius of the show was that none of this was particularly complex, or difficult even, but it's done at breakneck pace with amazing confidence and chutzpah. There's wind, snow and fog, there's a lovely little train, there's a Tommy Cooper hat routine, the two-sided character, even the cliché four-chair car !

Good use of music too – for Hannay's romantic stirrings, Coronation Scot for the train, even the Palladium theme.

It's all very tongue-in-cheek, never afraid to poke fun at itself, and altogether a deliciously entertaining evening in the West End. And it's now in its fifth year, and this is the seventh quartet to take the Flying Scotsman over the Forth Bridge ...