‘39 Steps’ a comic thrill

By Insider Staff - Feb 15, 2023 | 0 comments

Suzanne Watts plays a spy on the run who creates havoc in a crowded theatre with Todd Bubier in the Community Players of Concord NH’s production of “The 39 Steps” at Concord City Auditorium, February 17-19, 2023.

Julia Kehr plays “Margaret” a Scottish housewife on the moors, who plots the escape of a citified fugitive (Todd Bubier.) Her jealous husband (Seth Bunke, center) observes in the Community Players of Concord NH’s production of “The 39 Steps” at Concord City Auditorium, February 17-19, 2023.

Todd Bubier portrays character “Richard Hannay” – the wrong man accidentally swept up in a web of international spies, murder, mayhem and intrigue in the Community Players of Concord NH’s production of “THE 39 STEPS” at Concord City Auditorium, February 17-19, 2023. Patrick Barlow’s adaptation directed by Kevin Gardner puts a comic spin on Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller.

Editor’s note: After the Insider went to print we were notified that the play was postponed to Feb. 24 to 26 due to cast illness. 

Get ready for a “comic thrill ride” with The 39 Steps, Patrick Barlow’s hilarious, ridiculous and utterly genius adaption of the 1915 spy novel by John Buchan and Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film of the same name. Barlow’s adaptation not only spoofs old movies and Hitchcock tropes from Psycho, Vertigo and more, it also adds a dash of Monty Python comedy as five actors instantly transform into over 150 characters with lightning precision – sometimes playing two characters at once!

Like the Hitchcock film which first put the fast-paced, location-shifting spy thriller on the screen, this comic sendup tells the story of an ordinary man flung into extraordinary circumstances. After a spy is murdered in his London flat, Richard Hannay is chased by a team of killers across England and Scotland, defying death in one seemingly inescapable scrape after another – including romance!

Kevin Gardner, well-known author, commentator, and theatre director in New Hampshire, directs this Community Players of Concord presentation. Having directed the Shakespeare program for many years with St. Paul’s School Advanced Studies Program, as well as numerous plays at Plymouth State University and New Hampshire’s professional summer theatres, Kevin is happy to be returning to the Players where he began appearing in plays as a teenager with his family in the 1960s. In 2008, Kevin directed a brilliant production of Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation of Metamorphoses with the Players. The multi-talented cast of The 39 Steps includes Tod Bubier of Manchester, Julia Kehr and Daniel Kehr, both of Concord, Seth Bunke of Boscawen and Suzanne Watts of Penacook.

Performances are at The Concord City Auditorium on Feb. 24 and 25 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. Adult tickets are $20 and junior/senior tickets are $18. Tickets are available online at communityplayersofconcord.org or at the Audi box office. For more ticket information, contact box office chair David Murdo at nhdm40@comcast.net or (603) 344-4747.