The 39 Steps
Reviewed by David Kashimba
Photo by Eric Chazankin

 The 39 Steps, now playing at Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse, is a spy thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. But it’s also one hell of a comedy that will have you falling off the edge with laughter. This Alfred Hitchcock classic takes an irreverent turn in the hands of director Craig Miller and the 6th Street cast. But it’s all in fun.

The 39 Steps was filmed in 1935 and remade in 1959, 1978 and 2010, but the various special effects in all four movies can’t compare with the uproarious not so special effects performed to exaggerated comic heights by the 6th Street cast. “I am in awe of not only what my cast brought to the table from the first, but even more inspired by what I was able to ask of them, and the creativity that flowed from every pore each night in the rehearsal room,” said Miller. But Miller aptly reminds us that they’re not merely spoofing Hitchcock: “Actually, rather than calling it a spoof, I would say that what we are doing… is more of an homage, albeit an embellished one, paid by four actors to the wonder, delight, chills, and fright that Alfred Hitchcock has and continues to bring to his audiences.”

While 6th Street’s 39 Steps bring laughs like Monty Python or Bullshot Crummond, it has a lot of the thrills and suspense that Hitchcock is noted for.

For tickets or more information call 707-523-4185 or visit www.6thstreetplayhouse.com.

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