The 39 Steps, Hats Off to the Laughter

What impressed me in Repertory's presentation of the 39 steps is the illusion of seeing a crowd of people on stage, when there are only four people playing all 150 characters. Lisa Infante-Robinson, Michael Williams, Juliene Mendoza, and Rem Zamora - all veterans of the legitimate stage - showcase their versatility as they switch from one character to another, sometimes, with only an exchange of hats. The "hats" they wear on this play range from the stock (policemen) to the queer (husband-and-wife hotel owners). At one point, there was a confusion of who wears what hat, and that was a riot.

After doing a "Hitchcock viewing marathon" Ana Abad Santos, play director, meticulously put together a tableau of sets that moved along with the characters. (My favorites are the doors going inside the mad professor's house - one door "acted out" three entrances, and a car which isn't there but there). While watching the play, I forgot that everything was happening on the proscenium stage, and my disbelief was so suspended that I could see and feel smoke rising out of a 30's steam train. I had the feeling of being transported right smack at Central Europe, at the dawning of the industrial age.

The dynamic stage design, never boring, is difficult to ignore since it captures some set frames straight from a Hitchcock film. [One of the challenges of this play is for the audience to spot and share (for a prize) any Hitchcock inspired set-up.] The improvisation goes as far as using the sets and the lack of them to arouse laughter. The blocking is hilarious, and one hardly notices a shift from one location to the next as Michael Williams, playing the role of Richard Hanney, the fugitive, takes the audience, once, inside an unhappy wife's shelter as a snow storm rages; once, under water when he jumped off a helicopter; once, inside a mad-scientist's gothic abode (complete with a gate you often see in vampire soaps); and out there in the black, dry, dusty road as he takes off in a crowded train. It's amazing how one could live-out the scenes in the vast outdoors while seated inside Greenbelt Theater in Makati.

The play goes around, beginning with a vaudeville show starring Mr. Memory, and ending with the same gig, starring Mr. Memory. Indeed "memory" plays a huge part in the core of this play, although the audience will see the memory-clowns only as part of the introductory entertainment. In fact, the success of 39 Steps lies in its unpredictability - unpredictable because the audience ends up taking the story-arc for granted while they are so busy laughing. The humor, however, is aroused not by any slapstick take, but from Repertory team's superb handling of all the technical elements of this piece: exaggerated props, caricature-costumes, fast-paced blocking, funny tableaus, animate sets, ambient lighting, nostalgic music, creative transformation, delightful accents, character voices, dynamic direction and passionate acting.

The 39 steps by Repertory Philippines, on stage until the end of March 2011 at the Greenbelt Theater, will infuse your senses with escapist laughter. Hats off to the players and the backstage geniuses who delivered this entertainment out of their sheer love of theater.