The 39 Steps

Where do I begin? From the moment the lights went out and the first lines were spoken by Andrew Shaver as he stumbled his way through the audience and onto the stage, it was immediately established that the audience would be captivated. Shaver, who plays Richard Hannay, reminds me of a young John Cleese. Aside from the fact that he has spent five years as a member of the Stratford Festival and is a graduate of the director’s conservatory program, he owns the stage from start to finish of this two hour laugh riot.

Amelia Sargisson plays three different female characters each one funnier than the other and once again we have an actor who is as comfortable in a Shakespeare festival as in a comedic role.

Rounding out the cast Lucinda Davis and Trent Pardy are consistently hilarious as they change roles, characters, gender, clothes, and create situations a la Monty Python. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe I saw Lucinda Davis in the Hudson Theatre production Around the World in 80 Days last summer. Trent Hardy was a company member of the Stratford Festival for several years and performed in Greg Kramer’s adaption of Sherlock Holmes which had a North American tour.

The foursome re-enact the Alfred Hitchcock spy thriller with a minimum of props and a maximum of laughs. The show continues through to December 10 and I recommend it as an evening well spent.