Best 39 Steps of My Life

       Last Thursday, I attended the entertaining play, 39 Steps. Being a film student, I have always heard about Alfred Hitchcock's, 39 Steps but have never had the interest of watching it because I heard it wasn't the easiest or entertaining movie to watch. Honestly, after watching the movie I thought the story was pretty dull which made me not very excited to watch the play. I didn't think they could make such a plain movie into a comedy but within minutes of the play starting I was already laughing.
Just getting to the Criterion Theatre was entertaining. The outside of the theatre had so much going on. The street performers, bright lights, traffic and the crowds of people made me feel like we were in the center of Times Square. Being in Piccadilly Circus and seeing all the signs for all the plays around the area set the mood for the entire night. It was clear we were in the happening place. The outside of the theatre was one thing but going inside was amazing! After making our way down flights of stairs it was like we were transported to another era. I've seen many plays but this one was different. The theatre seemed so intimate. It reminded me of the Experimental Theatre at SDSU. Not from how it looked but how intimate the experience was. Being able to be in the front row made me have a completely different experience. It almost seemed like they were performing just to our group. Throughout the play I kept making eye contact with the actors. At first I thought it was awkward but by the end of the play I thought it was crazy how they could keep playing their roles when they could actually see most of the audience. It was nice being so close because we got to see things that the rest of the audience couldn't see. We were actually able to see the beads of sweat falling off their faces and the saliva projecting from their mouths.
It was amazing how just four people were able to put on the entire play. It made it more entertaining. All these characters were able to work with the beautiful set and make everything come to life. Even when they would mess up on their characters and get mixed up on what hat they were supposed to be wearing made the play more hilarious. The fact that they would chuckle when they messed up made it more relatable. It was funny how silly the characters were. Usually I can't watch things like that for very long because I get tired of the same jokes but this kept my attention the entire time. I was actually quite sad when it ended. The effort that these characters had to put in was insane. They were constantly moving. My favorite part was when the officers were trying to catch Hannay on the train. It actually looked like they were on top of a train with wind coming at them. They were all so animated.
We were lucky to watch a British play, it's so different than the other plays I think most of us are used to watching. I might just have to watch it again when my mom comes and visits. :) It was astonishing to see a play come to life like that with just four actors the the cast.