MRT’s “The 39 Steps” Transforms Mystery Classic Into Laugh Fest

September 20, 2022September 20, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of ‘The 39 Steps’ at the Merrimack Repertory Theatre

“The 39 Steps” By Patrick Barlow; From the novel by John Buchan and adapted from the movie by Alfred Hitchcock. Directed by Courtney Sale; Presented by The Merrimack Repertory Theatre at the Nancy L. Donahue Theatre, 50 East Merrimack Street, Lowell, MA. Performances through Oct. 2^nd.

by Tom Boudrot

Expectation is so much a part of the entertainment experience. Case in point: I’ve often looked back at movies whose release I’ve eagerly anticipated, only to be disappointed with for them not living up to the hype. Likewise, I have sat down to more than a few movies with zero expectations, and when they turned out to actually be good it amplified the enjoyment to the point where I have probably given the movie more accolades than it deserved.

GBSC Sends up Hitchcock with Hilarious ‘The 39 Steps’

September 28, 2021September 28, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Russell Garrett, Paul Melendy, Grace Experience, and* *K.P. Powell* in GBSC’s ‘The 39 Steps’
Photography: Nile Scott Studios.

‘The 39 Steps’ – Based on the movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock and the novel by John Buchan. Adapted by Patrick Barlow. Directed by Ilyse Robbins; Scenic Designer, Shelley Barish; Lighting Designer, Daisy Long; Costume Designer, Rachel Padula-Shufelt; Sound Designer, Andrew Duncan Will. Presented by the Greater Boston Stage Company, 395 Main St., Stoneham through October 10.

by Mike Hoban

In the opening scene of Greater Boston Stage Company’s uproarious The 39 Steps, the dashing Richard Hannay, weary of life and the relentless bad news reported in the daily papers, decides the remedy is to seek out “something mindless and trivial. Something utterly pointless” to distract him. His solution? “I know! I’ll go to the theater!” he tells the audience, which erupts in knowing laughter.

Hitchcock Comes to Life with Gloucester Stage’s ‘39 Steps’

July 12, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Amanda Collins, Lewis D. Wheeler in Gloucester Stage’s ’39 Steps’

Review by James Wilkinson

The 39 Steps – Written by Patrick Barlow. Directed by Robert Walsh. Assist. Director: Madison Cook-Hines. Scenic Design: Jenna McFarlen Lord. Lighting Design: Russ Swift. Costume Design: Miranda Kau Giurleo. Sound Design: David Wilson. Props Design: Emme Shaw. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 E. Main St. Gloucester through July 28

I have an unabashed love for the films of Alfred Hitchcock. It runs so deep that sitting five feet from where I’m typing this review is a pile of DVDs of just about every film he ever made. I won’t go into all of the reasons why (we’ll be here all day if I do), but I’d like to think that my passionate fandom makes me the ideal audience member for Gloucester Stage Company’s production of The 39 Steps. The play by Patrick Barlow is a stage adaptation of the classic 1935 film and also holds the distinction of being one of only two or three Hitchcock pictures that I’ve never seen. That strikes me as remarkable considering the high regard that film buffs hold the movie in. How exactly has this one slipped past me for all these years? I considered watching the film as research before going to Gloucester Stage’s production, then held off. The movie’s the movie (and I’ll get to it one of these days), right now I’m more concerned with what’s happening on stage.

Laughter Abounds in Moonbox Productions’ “The 39 Steps”

November 28, 2017November 28, 2017 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Cirone, Zahnzinger, Mussett and Gazdowicz in Moonbox Productions’ “The 39 Steps”)

by Michele Markarian

“The 39 Steps”. Written by Evan George Patrick Barlow. Directed by Allison Olivia Choat. Presented by Moonbox Productions, the Plaza Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, Boston through December 9.

“I was bored – no, more than bored, tired,” begins the play’s hapless, world weary protagonist, Richard Hannay (Kevin Cirrone), from a rented flat in London. He decides to go to the theater, where he meets a mysterious woman (Sarah Gazdowicz, playing one of three roles) who, after shooting off a gun in the theater, asks if she can spend the night. When his guest is mysteriously murdered, Hannay is the suspect-at-large and goes on the run, but not before the dying woman gives him the address of a professor in Scotland with the cryptic phrase, “the 39 steps.” It is here that Hannay’s boredom ends and his adventure begins, as he journeys to Scotland. Along the way, he meets another young woman as well as a multitude of characters, some benign, some nefarious, many inept, and all played by Man 1 (Bob Mussett) and Man 2 (Matthew Zahnzinger).