Despite Tech Challenge, ‘The 39 Steps’ Delights

          As all theater lovers know, the show must go on. 
           That indomitable spirit was center stage on opening night of “The 39 Steps,” Broadway’s longest-running comedy thriller, at Cape Playhouse. In spite of technical challenges which pushed the 7:30 curtain closer to 9 p.m., the four-person cast and everyone working behind the scenes brought all the skill, talent, energy and brilliance to the stage that the historic Cape Playhouse could hold, and the intrepid audience members who stayed for the later start time were rewarded for their patience. 
           “A beautiful, mysterious woman pursued by gunmen? Sounds like a spy story!” Protagonist Richard Hannay (Kareem Bandealy) doesn’t know how right he is. Earlier in the evening he was complaining about the dull, dreary ho-humness of his bachelor’s life. Now, a few short hours later, following a gunshot in a crowded theater, he is wanted for a murder he didn’t commit. Running from the law and the bad guys alike, Hannay tumbles into the thick of an international spy plot involving the cryptic 39 Steps, the mysterious Annabelle Schmidt (Lori Vega), the enigmatic Margaret (Lori Vega), the gutsy Pamela (Lori Vega) and a cast of characters so numerous and colorful — over 150 — that they defy listing in the program, and are simply grouped as “clowns” (all portrayed by Octavia Chavez-Richmond and Evan Zes). 
           Based on the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock spy thriller, the two-time Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning stage adaptation by Patrick Barlow takes a classic tale of international espionage in an entirely new direction, adding absurd, Monty Pythonesque humor, sight gags and the storm of breathless character transformations — some onstage, in plain sight — necessary to allow Chavez-Richmond and Zes to portray a staggering number of different people. More than once, gasps of disbelief were heard amid the laughter on opening night as the cast seemed to defy possibility, shifting accents and postures as easily as they traded hats and jackets to become dozens of characters throughout the production. 
 More than a spy story injected with humor, “The 39 Steps” is a tour de force of not only unforgettable performances but ingenious stagecraft, brilliant sound and lighting design and clever, sleight-of-hand costume designs. If you find yourself, like protagonist Richard Hannay, bemoaning the humdrum nature of your evenings, purchase tickets and make your way to Cape Playhouse, whether on foot, by train, handcuffed in the back of a police car, or by autogyro. The wild journey through murder, mayhem, romance, mystery and humor will banish boredom to the loneliest reaches of the Scottish Highlands and leave you humming a haunting tune you can’t quite recognize. 
           “The 39 Steps,” directed by Kimberly Senior, runs about two hours, with a 15-minute intermission, and will grace the Cape Playhouse stage through Sept. 7. The cast includes Kareem Bandealy as Richard Hannay; Lori Vega as Annabelle Schmidt, Margaret and Pamela; and Octavia Chavez-Richmond and Evan Zes as the incredible, multi-character clowns. Casting is by Stephanie Klapper. Scenic design is by Frank J. Oliva, costume design by Sarita Fellows, sound design by Joanna Lynne Staub, lighting design by M.L. Geiger, with dialect coach JDR, production stage manager Lucy Houlihan, and fight and intimacy choreography by UnkleDave’s Fight-House. Don’t miss this brilliant end to Cape Playhouse’s 98th summer season. 
 
 Details: 
 “The 39 Steps”
 At The Cape Playhouse, Route 6A, Dennis
 Through Sept. 7

Information and reservations: 508-385-391, capeplayhouse.com