A Hitchcock & Bull Story

Repertory Philippines’ production of The 39 Steps began its run last Friday, and it is a hoot and a holler. The comic theatrical adaptation of John Buchan’s novel is written by Patrick Barlow, and is leavened generously with references to and influences from Alfred Hitchcock. And not just Hitchcock’s own succesful 1935 film adaptation of The 39 Steps, but his entire body of work. Watching the play I was able to spot nods and tips of the hat to The Birds, Psycho, Rear Window, North by Northwest, even the TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, just to name a few. And I’m sure I missed more.

One need not be a scholar of Hitch’s work to appreciate the play, however. The references, while adding a bit of a wink and a rib-jab to the audience, don’t detract any from the straightforward story of Richard Hannay, an ordinary man who gets embroiled in espionage when his life gets entangled with several spies and a secret organization known only as “The 39 Steps.”

Another extra bit of cleverness is that all the roles in the play are performed by only four actors. The esteemed Michael Williams plays Hannay, and is the only one who doesn’t assume any other role, since the tale is told from his point of view and as such he is in virtually every scene. Though essentially a straight man, he gets into many a pickle, especially one inspired bit where he must make his way out from under a corpse. Liza Infante, who makes her return to Philippine theater after spending the last decade in London, plays the three romantic paramours of Hannay. Infante is a firecracker in the play, her accents are hilarious and comic stylings are a joy to behold. Rem Zamora & Juliene Mendoza play, well, everyone else. The two have a good rapport, especially in one scene where they have to go through around 10 characters in as many minutes, marked only by the different hats they wear, which they doff and don with dizzying speed, sometimes even throwing them to one another.

... Most of these shouldered by Zamora and Mendoza, seen here as Luisa and Professor Jordan, respectively.

One or two scenes could use a bit of tighter pacing; it’s difficult to sustain an elevated sense of momentum in a comedy with such deft bits and slightly less frantic scenes, and there is a romance that only begins to develop in the second act which also tends to slow things down, no matter that Williams and Infante still do good work in their respective roles.

Still, a good time is there if you take the opportunity to see it, and whether or not you’re familiar with the Hitchcock version of The 39 Steps, you’ll find yourself discovering something new.

The 39 Steps will run until March 20 at Onstage, Greenbelt 1, Makati City. For tickets, inquiries and other information, call Repertory Philippines at 571-6926 and 571-4941 or email info@repertory.ph. Tickets are also available at Ticketworld at 891-9999.

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Catch electronic/rock dance group The Whitest Boy Alive this Saturday March 12 at Republiq! Erlend Oye of the Kings of Convenience enjoyed his stay in Manila so much from when the Kings and Jens Lekman played here last year that he’s decided to bring over his other band! If you’re not familiar with the band I highly recommend checking out their songs on Youtube and Myspace to prepare for the awesome dance action this Saturday.

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Ramon De Veyra blogs at thesecuriousdays.com but is more active on Twitter.