MARINE CITY, MI–Who is ready for some serious fun?  By serious, I mean an adventurous spy thriller; and by fun, I mean a stage-adapted parody of said adventurous spy thriller.  The 39 Steps is adapted by Patrick Barlow from both the 1915 novel by John Buchan, and the 1935 movie by Alfred Hitchcock, and adds laughter to its appeal. Mandy Logsdon directs The 39 Steps at the Riverbank Theater in Marine City, which originally produced the show some years ago, and brought it back by popular demand,

True Hitchcockians may need a reminder up front that this play is less about solving the actual spy plot, and more about the main character, Richard Hannay (Brian Wyzgowski), escaping capture in nearly every scene.  Hannay is a mistaken murder suspect, after the mysterious spy Annabella (Emily Nichter) hijacks Hannay’s humdrum evening at a London club, then has the audacity to be murdered in Hannay’s living room.

Hannay then spends the rest of the show on the run, escaping (mostly through windows) from various good guys (Jeffrey Smyk, Tim Stone) who want to jail him for murder, and bad guys who want to kill him for the fragments of information Annabella revealed to him before her death.  The escapade takes Hannay north to Scotland, where he is again nearly killed by the spy master, before being invited to join the spy ring.  Hannay also re-encounters a woman he met on the train to Edinburgh, who is reluctantly forced to help him escape several more times before they finally foil the spy ring.

Several features make this comedy spoof memorable and quite funny.  Firstly, three of the four cast members play multiple roles.  Only Wyzgowski remains in his role of Hannay throughout the show.  Nichter plays Annabella (the spy), Margaret (the farmer’s wife) and Pamela (the unwitting accomplice).  Smyk and Stone, however, play at least 25 different roles, from club performers to traveling salesmen, farmers to innkeepers, spy lackeys and several iterations of police inspectors.  They swap hats—and accents!—as they swap roles, often in the same scene.  Smyk and Stone are a great comedic contrast to the relatively “straight” roles of Wyzgowski and Nichter, and their characters sometimes appear to momentarily realize that they are indeed characters.

Secondly, The 39 Steps utilizes some very creative stagecraft.  The set consists almost entirely of mobile set pieces that double as props, including doors and windows.  There are clever representations of bloodhounds, airplanes, windstorms, bridges and more. 

In one funny scene, Hannay, while attempting to hide from inspectors, stumbles into a political meeting and is mistaken for the guest speaker. He is introduced by a mumbling campaign worker, then proceeds to give a brilliantly inspiring and absolutely meaningless campaign speech, in a style reminiscent of shallow, real-life politicians everywhere.

Perhaps the most memorable scene takes place on a train in Act I, where Hannay bounces and repeatedly jostles with his seatmates before making an escape from the police, which involves a chase atop the moving train cars and a leap from a bridge.

The language and content of the show is very mild; adults can comfortably bring adolescents and teens, who will enjoy the Python-esque style humor, and appreciate the hilarious character switches.

The 39 Steps can be seen on The Riverbank stage through June 9, 2024.  For tickets go to www.ThumbCoastTheaters.com