Last Friday was the opening weekend for the black-box theater’s showing of “The 39 Steps.” Opening night was packed to the last seat; the show itself was hilarious and kept the audience on their feet during every scene.
“The 39 Steps” was an amazing vaudeville-style comedy play that takes place in 1950s London and Scotland. The show was directed by Kiely Huynh, a senior, who gave her director’s speech before the play began. During the speech, she talked about how directing this play was her senior showcase with Dr. Corts as her directing consultant. Over the course of directing “The 39 Steps,” Kiely was terrified at first and thought she would make terrible decisions any time she was making changes or giving tips on characterizations to the actors, but she learned with time that she needed to trust her instinct in the decisions she would make for the show. Near the end of her speech, she snapped her fingers once, and the show immediately began.
“The 39 Steps” was an amazing vaudeville-style comedy play that takes place in 1950s London and Scotland. Credit: Timmy Feiler
Without giving away too much, the play follows the adventure-seeking lead known as Richard Hannay (played by Richard Ocampo) as he is accused of a crime he didn’t commit and is forced to go on the run to clear his name, the only way he can prove his innocence is by finding out what the 39 steps are. Throughout the course of the play, Hannay runs into a handful of different people and strange characters that are all played by only two other actors and one other actress, and all done so in the most sidesplitting way. The play in itself had many purposeful “mistakes” on stage that caught the audience by surprise with plenty of the fourth wall breaking moments that created an amazing night of laughter.
This being a senior showcase it was exciting to be able to see what many of the students in the English theater program had learned over the course of the four years that they have been here and the skills that they have acquired. The lead in the show, Richard Ocampo, is one of the last English majors with a specialization in theater. Ocampo was thrilled about performing in this play not just because he could relate so well to his character, although he believed Hannay was way smoother with the ladies then he ever was, but Ocampo also says that he learned so much from this performance. He explained one of the main things he took away from the play, “staying in your comfort zone is a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing.” Ocampo further stated that as an actor everyone has a persona and at first he didn’t believe Hannay fit his but with practice and coming a little out of his comfort zone he believes the character fits him well now.
With the first show week over, it is safe to say that “The 39 Steps” was an absolute success with the perfectly timed comedy, crowd participation and genuinely lovable characters; the English theater students accomplished something no less than amazing. With the second weekend shows underway be sure to reserve your tickets!
