Barbara Frame reviews The 39 Steps at the Fortune Theatre.
Mad, completely mad. The 39 Steps, now playing at the Fortune, has been convulsing audiences all over the world for the past few years.
This is its third incarnation, adapted by Patrick Barlow from Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 film which, in turn, owed much but not everything to John Buchan's 1915 thriller.
Relying on fast action, amazing coincidences, daring escapes and incredible bravery, it's also wildly funny, featuring terrible jokes, loads of slapstick and seemingly desperate improvisation.
Mark Neilson plays Richard Hannay, the Englishman keeping a stiff upper lip as he finds himself caught up in a spy story of international importance.
Anna Henare takes on three parts, most notably femme fatale Annabella Schmidt, and Patrick Davies and Danny Still play an uncountable number of roles, often changing characters mid-syllable and sometimes even being several people at the same time.
The multi-talented Louise Jakeway and Rebekah Sherratt manage to be everything from scene-shifters to sheep.
Thanks to the actors' versatility, comic skills and split-second timing, and director Hilary Norris' success at unleashing all sorts of mayhem and keeping it all (just) under control, it's an exhilarating ride.
One of my favourite scenes showed Neilson and Henare as Hannay and not-quite-dumb blonde Pamela Edwards, handcuffed together, bristling with mutual loathing and trying to negotiate a stile while being pursued by evil foreign spies.
Stephen (Sooty) Kilroy's lighting helps the impossible (like an escape from a train crossing the Forth Bridge) to happen, and recalls the designs of 1930s film posters and book covers.
If you've ever enjoyed spy stories, ripping yarns, vaudeville, silent films, the Goons, Monty Python, or hilarious nights at the theatre, you'll like The 39 Steps.
Friday's opening-night audience certainly did.
