Photo by George Katsekes Jr
The Sunset Playhouse immerses itself in cloak-and-dagger comedy as it presents Patrick Barlow’s beloved parody of The 39 Steps. Aaron Klein is impressively sharp in the lead role of Richard Hannay. Hannay is in a bit of a malaise until he has a chance encounter with a woman on the run who speaks of mysterious things. She stays the night at his place and somehow manages to catch a knife in her back. Thus begins a comic adventure with plenty of references to Alfred Hitchcock and countless throwaway gags.
Klein has an impressive comic range. His relaxed presence onstage at the start of the play allows him to serve comedy from a wide variety of emotional postures. This provides an enjoyably dynamic personal journey for the mild-mannered Hannay. In an outlandish parade of events, the man encounters a rather large number of people who are collectively played by just three actors.
Given an opportunity to flesh out only a few roles, Lori Nappe cleverly plays three attractive women who push his fate in different directions over the course of the story. Nappe takes the characters seriously enough to make each one of them feel authentic without taking them so seriously that she loses track of the comedy. Spencer Mather and Matthew J. Patten bring about a dozen characters to the stage, each in a smart, crisp quick change that keeps everything entertaining around the edges. Mather is probably most fun as the central villain of the story. One of Patten’s characters has a death scene at the end of the play that is easily one of the best bits of physical comedy in the entire show.
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Through May 10 at 800 Elm Grove Road. For tickets, call 262-782-4430 or visit sunsetplayhouse.com.
