Raleigh Little Theatre's The 39 Steps is Not for Everybody | Triangle ...

Any fan of the 1935 film The 39 Steps or any Alfred Hitchcock devotee should be positively delighted with Raleigh Little Theatre?s production of the play by the same name. Others, however, will likely be lost, bored, and a little overwhelmed with this excessively silly and frenzied comedy. The show follows Richard Hannay (Jesse Gephart) on a misadventure that begins when he meets a secretive woman, Annabella (Staci Sabarsky) at a theatre. He allows her to stay in his home overnight, wakes up to find that she has been murdered, and then spends the rest of the play on the run and falling into one blunder after another.

Though the beginning of the show is intriguing, things quickly go downhill. After the first six or seven ?comedic? mishaps, the production turns into one long, confusing blur with the same jokes being repeated over and over again and Hitchcock references being thrown in haphazardly. While most audience members wait patiently for the ending, which seems to never come, many at Sunday?s matinee did not return after the intermission, and it?s hard to blame them.

To be fair, the small cast (which the script calls for) gives it their all. Gephart is characteristically funny and goofy, making him perfect for his singular role. The rest of the cast, however, juggles multiple roles. Sabarsky is sometimes charming and fun to watch, taking turns as characters Annabella, Margaret, and Pamela, but her unclear accents and often-flat delivery could stand some work. Tony Hefner and Del Flack add some much needed humor (the kind that?s actually funny!) in their constantly-changing ?clown? roles.

While there are likely a few people out there who will get their kicks with this show and find it uproariously funny, most will wish they?d sat this one out. It is simply too outdated, too over-the-top, and just too silly for modern viewers.

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Source: http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/2012/10/raleigh-little-theatres-the-39-steps-is-not-for-everybody/

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