Theater-goers are in for a madcap experience as the Concord Players debuts a farcical adaptation of The 39 Steps, the 1915 novel by John Buchan that was popularized in a film by Alfred Hitchcock. Patrick Barlow wrote the script.
The local version is pure fun, according to Co-producer Kathy Lague. The cast is just four people who rotate in and out of their various roles during the production. “There are a lot of costume changes,” Lague said with a laugh.
Lague said the play was chosen last spring by the selection committee from a stack of scripts to make up the season. The 39 Steps opens on Nov. 4 and ends on Nov. 19. For tickets, go to www.concordplayers.org.
“One actor plays the hero, one actress plays the girl, and two other actors play every other character,” the press release states. “The serious spy story becomes a chaotic farce,”
“It’s a very funny comedy,” said Lague.
Director Andrew Rhodes is all-in on the twist on the original.
“I love taking things and making them absurd,” he said as a recent rehearsal wrapped.
Rhodes, a Melrose resident, has been working in the theater business for 22 years, including a decade-long stint at the Worcester Foothills Theater and teaching after-school classes at the Monroe Center for the Arts in Lexington.
“It’s fun, it’s a great cast, it’s fast and ridiculous,” said Rhodes.
Cast members Matthew Slepin, Michelle Mount, Will Jevon and Rebecca Bishop acknowledge the rigors of the fast-paced production.
“It’s excellent cardio,” said Bishop. “It’s delightfully mad.”
