With just four actors playing more than 150 roles in Saturday’s Bravo series presentation of the Broadway play, “The 39 Steps”, the action on stage at the Auburn Performing Arts Center promises to be fast and furious.
Adapted from the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film, the play recreates the movie scene by scene, according to actor Dan Fenaughty, who plays the role of Richard Hannay.
“It’s all done by four people and it has it all, something for everybody,” Fenaughty said. “You don’t have to have seen the movie or read the book (by author John Buchan) to appreciate it.”
The play revolves around the adventures of Hannay, a man suffering through a boring existence, who runs across a woman claiming to be a spy. After he takes her home, she is murdered, and soon a mysterious organization called “The 39 Steps” begins to pursue Hannay as he flees across the country, trying to escape their nefarious clutches. Madcap escapades ensue.
Fenaughty said he was first exposed to the film in acting school.
“I was surprised when I saw it was going to be a play,” Fenaughty said.
After 771 performances on Broadway between 2008 and 2010 – a run that produced two Tony awards, a Drama Desk Award and a Olivier Award – Windward Theatricals started reading the traveling edition of the show.
“That’s when I said, ‘Hey, I’d like to do that play,'” Fenaughty said.
Although Fenaughty plays just one role in the show – compared to Emily Larger, who plays three roles, and Toby Shaw and Nicholas Pauling, who combine for more than 140 roles – the show’s two-hour running time does require a bit of endurance, he said.
“I’m just the lead man, but as payment I’m on the stage for almost the entire time,” he said. “This is basically like running a marathon. We get an intermission, but it’s just time for, like, a drink of water.”
Shawn and Nicholas perform the bulk of the roles.
“The clowns, that’s what we call them, are played by Toby and Nick,” Fenaughty said. “They do men, women, children, even inanimate objects all over the place.”
Despite the zany nature of the show, Fenaughty said, the key to the performance is keeping focused.
“You have to be very focused with a show of this speed and scope,” he said. “With minimal set and props, we have to embody every single role.”
The troupe is halfway through a three-month run, Fenaughty said.
Tickets for the show, which begins at 7:30 p.m., are still available. Cost is $25 for regular admission, $23 for students and seniors.
Tickets are available by phone at 253-931-3043, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday or online through Brown Paper Tickets at www.auburnwa.gov.
