The 39 Steps is a few too many
During the introduction for Designing Women Live I heard word of OnStage Atlanta’s upcoming production, The 39 Steps. I was not going to miss this Hitchcock inspired , and pun filled, play. The concept is exciting: four actors playing 50 characters during a fast paced humor filled mystery. But unfortunately, taking the stairs only made me want to find an elevator, quickly.
The first half was so good. It was all that I had hoped it would be. I laughed out loud, and not in a over emphasized LOL way, but in a genuine this is smart comedy that encompasses silliness, physicality and good timing. The twist of the mystery was intriguing and not over-powering or hard to follow. The magnificent cast (Geoffrey “Googie” Uterhardt, Adam Bailey, Charlie Miller, and Barbara Cole Uterhardt) that jumped from character to character, costume to costume, accent to accent, and sometimes even gender to gender, kept up with all of the twist and turns. But then something happened.
It was intermission.
And intermission was a huge mistake. One, the audience wasn’t sure if that was the end of the show or, in fact, intermission. There was a bit of awkward clapping before realizing that actors were not going to come on stage to receive praise. And two, it completely killed the momentum of the show. Before intermission it seemed like we were headed full speed towards a climatic moment that would lead to a very mystery-solved, world protected kiss ending. So coming back from intermission was a huge tease. There was still so much show to go. Too much.
If The 39 Steps was cut down by 39 minutes, it would be perfection. But due to its length, the jokes became repetitive, even the plot seemed to be on a circle track. The audience knew where it was headed but for some reason it took so long to get there. When the audience, who was extremely responsive, stops making any sort of noise except for shifting, that is huge indicator. Maybe theater should undergo the honest process of test audiences. It hard to see the flaws if involved and in love with a project. You never want to cut or edit. You just want it to go on forever. But unfortunately the audience doesn’t.
Good theater, yes. An example of how a good show can go bad, a regret filled absolutely.
The 39 Steps is running till May 19 at The Academy Theatre due to OnStage Atlanta still waiting for their new space. For ticket and show time information, visit onstageatlanta.com.
