{"id":236438,"date":"2013-08-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-31T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/the-39-steps-four-actors-play-hordes\/"},"modified":"2013-08-31T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-08-31T07:00:00","slug":"the-39-steps-four-actors-play-hordes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/the-39-steps-four-actors-play-hordes\/","title":{"rendered":"The 39 Steps: Four actors play hordes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charlene Baldridge | SDCNN Theater Critic<\/strong><\/p>\n

Familiarity with Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s 1935 film is not a prerequisite, but it deepens one\u2019s appreciation of Patrick Barlow\u2019s stage adaptation, actually a spoof of \u201cThe 39 Steps,\u201d which was quite the serious spy thriller. The production is seen at Lamb\u2019s Players Theatre through September 22.<\/p>\n

\"(l-r)<\/a>
(l-r) David S. Humphrey as Ricahrd Hannay and Kelsey Venter in one of her many roles (Photo by Ken Jacques)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When he was interviewed earlier this year regarding \u201cThe 39 Steps,\u201d Lamb\u2019s Artistic Director Robert Smyth could barely hide his longing to be one of the show\u2019s four actors. One assumes he succumbed to some gentle arm-twisting on the part of his wife, Deborah Gilmour Smyth, who is the director. Robert Smyth plays Clown #2. Others in the company are David S. Humphrey, the sole actor who plays only one character, protagonist Richard Hannay; Kelsey Venter, who portrays three women, Annabella, Pamela and Margaret; and Jesse Abeel, who is Clown #1. The clowns get a huge workout, changing characters with the change of a hat before the audience\u2019s eyes. Robert Smyth, who joined Lamb\u2019s in 1979, is quite obviously having the time of his life, and so is Abeel, by now a Lamb\u2019s veteran of several years\u2019 worth of truly memorable performances. He possesses the sort of facility, versatility and depth that make an actor valuable to a repertory company and to the community.<\/p>\n

The same could be said of Venter, whose Lamb\u2019s roles include Sarah in \u201cGuys and Dolls\u201d and Sarah in \u201cTrying.\u201d Humphrey\u2019s numerous Lamb\u2019s credits include \u201c1776\u201d and \u201cThe Secret Garden.\u201d<\/p>\n

The August 21 audience had a rip-roaring good time. What appears easy is timed to the nth, and all is expertly done here, abetted by Jemima Dutra\u2019s costumes, Nathan Peirson\u2019s lighting, Michael McKeon\u2019s set and properties, and Deborah Gilmore Smyth\u2019s sound design based on the original design by Mic Pool.<\/p>\n

Richard Hannay is an ex-pat Canadian, a lonely 37-year-old bachelor living in London. He goes to the theater and becomes the unwitting target of an international spy ring because he harbors an opposing spy named Annabella (Venter), who is murdered by two men (Abeel and Robert Smyth). Hannay flees, in pursuit of clues given him by the doomed woman. Venter\u2019s other characters are a kindly farmer\u2019s wife and a sophisticated blond named Pamela, who blows the whistle on Hannay not once but twice before discovering he\u2019s not really Annabella\u2019s murderer. He is telling the truth about the sinister 39 Steps spy ring, which is trying to kill him and smuggle secrets out of the country.<\/p>\n

\"39<\/a>Abeel and Robert Smyth portray a host of farmers, hoteliers, policemen and spies. Hannay, a fast thinker and long-distance runner, eludes the opposition repeatedly, even while famously handcuffed to Pamela, with whom he falls in love. Eventually, the feeling is mutual.<\/p>\n

Barlow\u2019s clever dialogue and projections include references to other Hitchcock films. Deborah Smyth\u2019s direction showcases her company\u2019s talents beautifully. The secret is staging maximum effect with a minimum of visible effort as well as few accoutrements: trunks, a few ladders, odd pieces of furniture, a lamppost, and human torsos that become the landscape of Scotland.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 39 Steps\u201d continues in Lamb\u2019s Players, 1142 Orange Ave., Coronado, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, with matinees at 4 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $22-$52. Visit lambsplayers.org<\/a> or call 619-437-6000.<\/p>\n

Charlene Baldridge se mud\u00f3 a San Diego desde el \u00e1rea de Chicago en 1962. Ha estado escribiendo sobre las artes desde 1979 y desde entonces sus art\u00edculos, cr\u00edticas, encuestas y entrevistas han sido incluidas en varias publicaciones. Su libro San Diego, Jewel of the California Coast (Northland Publishing) est\u00e1 actualmente disponible en las librer\u00edas. Puede comunicarse con ella en charb81@gmail.com.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Charlene Baldridge | SDCNN Theater Critic Familiarity with Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s 1935 film is not a prerequisite, but it deepens one\u2019s appreciation of Patrick Barlow\u2019s stage adaptation, actually a spoof of \u201cThe 39 Steps,\u201d which was quite the serious spy thriller. The production is seen at Lamb\u2019s Players Theatre through September 22. When he was interviewed […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":236439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"The 39 Steps: Four actors play hordes","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-sdnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}