By Siera Schubach, Staff Writer

Published in print Sept. 10, 2014

Danger was afoot Friday at Triad’s Stage opening night production of The 39 Steps – danger of laughing too hard.

Anyone familiar with Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film may find the label of “comedy” a bit of a switch from the thriller original. “This play is a celebration of the brilliance of the Hitchcock legacy,” said lead actor Sal Cacciato. “[We are] roasting Hitchcock’s innovation”.

Set at the height of World War II and Nazi intrigue, this retelling of The 39 Steps features the original plot; unsuspecting Richard Hannay meets a mysterious woman with a secret and goes on the run from the foreign power known as “The 39 Steps”. But in this version, all the action is played for laughs.

“Most of the text from the play the playwright [Patrick Barlow] lifted from the movie script. It is the actors’ job in this production to make the movie’s dialogue funny,” Cacciato explained. That includes slipping in references to other Hitchcock movies, including a hilarious rendition of the famous plane sequence in North by Northwest.

The comedy isn’t the only thing that is different from Hitchcock’s original: all the characters (over 150 of them) are played by just four actors. Cacciato, who plays Clown #1, portrays perhaps the most characters in this production.

“I am finding it an exciting challenge to play all the characters that I do,” he said. The play’s comedy stems mostly from the insanely fast costume changes actors like Cacciato go through. One moment he will leave the stage as a surly secret agent, and within the blink of an eye he is back, this time as a young Scottish newspaper boy.

To pull off these kinds of laughs, Cacciato said the actors also rely on the audience. “The beauty about live theater is that every night the experience is different,” he explained. “The audience plays an important role in the creative process”.

This symbiosis with the audience allows the actors to play scenes depending on the energy around them. “No two audiences are alike,” he said. “Therefore each performance is unique in its own special and subtle way.” Sometimes that means playing a scene longer if the laughs are loud, or shortening a routine if the energy is lacking.

Theater is a collaborative medium, relying not only on the energy of the audience but also that of the other actors. Complimentary to Sal’s Clown #1 was his partner in laughs, Andy Paterson, as Clown #2. The cooperation between the two actors was vital as they often changed parts, one after the other, relying on trust and exquisite timing.

If The 39 Steps has one downfall, it’s that it relies perhaps too much on the comedy. Lacking a strong plot, the momentum of the action relies on the comedic timing of the actors. In the instances that timing is off, the energy falls and the audience is only left with the slim plot that isn’t meant to be taken very seriously.

Despite its occasional lags, Triad Stage’s The 39 Steps is a highly entertaining, laugh-filled experience that plays as a perfect tribute to the master of suspense. “This play is a celebration of the brilliance of the Hitchcock legacy,” said Cacciato. Would Hitchcock have appreciated this farce-filled homage? Probably not, but anyone else who has a funny bone ready to be tickled most certainly will.

The 39 Steps runs through Sept 28th at the Pyrle Theatre. Tickets are available at the door and online at http://www.triadstage.org/series/163/the-steps#calendar.

A series of special viewing opportunities will be featured this week, including a “Pay What You Can” night on Wednesday and a post-show discussion on Thursday.