(l to r) Kelsey Venter, Jesse Abeel, David S. Humphrey and Robert Smyth (Photo by Ken Jacques)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nOthers in the company are David S. Humphrey, the sole actor who plays only one character, the protagonist; Kelsey Venter, who portrays Annabella, Pamela and Margaret; and Jesse Abeel as Clown #1.<\/p>\n
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 with several years\u2019 worth of truly memorable performances. He possesses the sort of facility, versatility and depth that make an actor valuable both 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 Aug. 21 audience had a rip-roaring good time. What appears easy is timed to the \u201cnth degree\u201d and all is expertly done here, abetted by Jemima Dutra\u2019s costumes, Nathan Peirson\u2019s lighting, Michael McKeon\u2019s set and properties, and Deborah Smyth\u2019s sound design based on the original by Mic Pool.<\/p>\n
Richard Hannay (Humphrey) is an ex-pat Canadian, a lonely 37-year-old bachelor living in London. He goes to the theatre 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.<\/p>\n
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
Abeel and Robert Smyth also 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, and Deborah Smyth\u2019s direction showcases her company\u2019s talents beautifully.<\/p>\n
The secret is staging maximum effect with a minimum of visible effort as well as few accouterments: trunks, a few ladders, odd pieces of furniture, a lamppost and human torsos, all becoming the landscape of Scotland.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 39 Steps\u201d<\/strong>
\nWHERE: 1142 Orange Ave. (Coronado)<\/strong>
\nWHEN: Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through Sept. 22<\/strong>
\nINFO: 619-437-6000<\/strong>
\nWEB: lambsplayers.org<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spy thriller\u2019s execution is expertly timed, making the difficult look easy By Charlene Baldridge | SDUN 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 […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":246454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Maximum effect","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246453","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=246453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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