"The 39 Steps"

August 24, 2011 — For the final play of their 81st season, The Barnstormers in Tamworth, New Hampshire is presenting "The 39 Steps," their 600th production at the Tamworth theater. Adapted from a novel by John Buchan and the 1935 movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written for the stage by Patrick Barlow, this production turns Hitchcock's dark, suspenseful tale into a madcap, free-wheeling comedy, which I didn't expect, but having seen it I'm convinced that was exactly the right thing to do.

Blair Hundertmark is superb as the suave, handsome hero, Richard Hannay, on the lam as a falsely suspected murderer and caught up in a web of intrigue and espionage. Madeleine Maby deftly handles three diverse roles. a femme fatale, a shy inn-keeper's wife, and a strong-willed but innocent bystander caught up in Hannay's predicament. Scott H. Severance and Doug Shapiro, two of the funniest men in New Hampshire summer theater, play a dizzying number of characters, all hilarious. The portly Severance is especially gifted at character-switching, playing both male and frumpy female parts, as he has done in other Barnstormers plays. Scenery and costume changes come fast and furious as the actors play multiple characters from London to Scotland and other locations in the British Isles. The entire chaotic production is a brilliant achievement in direction, acting and stagecraft.

At the end of the play, when the four actors come out for their curtain call, you're tempted to ask, "Where are the rest of them?" It's hard to believe what you just witnessed was performed by only four people. This was a terrific ending to The Barnstormers' season, and I'll remember it as the funniest play I saw this summer.