KURIER

Hair-raising spy-story à la Monty Python
Slapstick-laden action-theatre

How does the perfect gentleman dispose of a lady lying stone-cold dead on top of him with a knife in her back? Not the only tricky situation in „The 39 Steps“ at Vienna’s English Theatre, a farce based on John Buchan’s thriller which was made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock (…).

There ensues a tense and seriously intended spy-story turned into a sort of Monty Pythonesque comedy. Given the acceptance of „Action-films“ as a genre, then „The 39 Steps“, directed by Sue Lefton, at Vienna’s English Theatre is surely „Action-theatre“! Hilarious, racy and tongue-in-cheek! As a result, the famous spy film functions onstage, too. Adam Lilley is the hero, Richard Hannay; Elizabeth Twells plays Annabella, Pamela and Margaret and is by turns mysterious, petulant and seductive. We also encounter the other two actors, Peter Clements and David Tarkenter, as canny comedians, memory-artists, policemen, professors, train conductors, spies, murderers and more besides.

Spectacular effects are achieved using minimal means, costumes and props are exchanged with lightning speed. Sometimes they have to play several roles at one and the same time; slapstick turns to art, guaranteeing plenty of laughs. The text is full of references to other Hitchcock films such as „Rear Window“, „Psycho“ or „North by Northwest“. Fast and furious fun onstage!

Werner Rosenberger
26.03.2015

FALTER

No esprit de l’escalier! But very British Humour

It all began with the 1915 spy story which Alfred Hitchcock turned into a film in 1935, half thriller, half screwball comedy. Much later, along came Patrick Barlow who, in 2005, turned „The 39 Steps“ into a play for four actors. The roles are unevenly spread: Adam Lilley is the reluctant hero, Elizabeth Twells slips into the roles of three women. David Tarkenter and Peter Clements, for their part, assume at break-neck speed what feels like 70 different parts, from cleaning-woman to spy-ring boss – a breathtaking achievement!

As is the custom in spy-stories, the plot is, in truth, hardly credible! By means of just a few comically exaggerated props and plenty of crazy slapstick the whole thing ends up hilariously funny. It can, however, only work in the original English.

Martin Lhotzky
14/2015