Even if you’re not a rabid fan of Alfred Hitchcock’s cheeky
thrillers, your funny bone will be convulsing over the shenanigans in Moonbox’s
production of THE 39 STEPS (@ BCA through Dec. 9th). British playwright
Evan George Patrick Barlow’s 2004 adaptation of the Hitchcock classic won him
all manner of awards, from London
to Broadway. (Before it became the 1935 Hitchcock film, THE 39 STEPS was
published twenty years earlier as a serial spy novel. Although its origins are endlessly
fascinating, its delightful transformation to the stage is what makes it a
knockout.)
You see, aside from the protagonist, a dashing Canadian who
finds himself drawn into the thorny world of European espionage, all the other
characters are portrayed by three actors for whom fast paced comedy is mother’s
milk. Kevin Cirone oozes panache as the accidental hero, brandishing that
emblematic wit that spits squarely in the face of adversity. Director Allison
Olivia Choat stops just short of winking, as she maneuvers Cirone out of
windows, off speeding trains and into rushing waters to escape the various
clutches of villains, dolts and n’er-do-wells (all audaciously portrayed by
Matthew Zahnzinger and Bob Mussett).
Sarah Gazdowicz is hilarious as a literal femme fatale and
even more intriguing prospects for our hero. Huzzahs to dialect coach Daniel
Blackwell. Gazdowicz’ provocative accents alone make her irresistible. And Zahnzinger’s
left eye which overflows with greed, not to mention its Scottish owner’s
impenetrable brogue is simply delicious… And Mussett’s curiously odd
vaudevillian, key to the thirty nine ways to subvert Nazis and save the world
is both delectable and disarming! I could go on and on, about the ingenious
staging and brazen liberties taken to serve up a guffaw…
There you are. Laughing your self silly and forgetting all
about present day Nazis and impending doom. Thank you, Moonbox.
