39 Steps - Style + Transitions

The 39 Steps is a melodrama and so in the creating of the performance we have to present the characters as extremes of their stereotypes while keeping Hannay as normal/realistic as possible. The comedy in the show is very slapstick as seen when Annabella dies, the salesmen/policeman/porter/newsboy have their skit and the professor roles on stage. Another aspect of the 39 Steps is the use of the 4th wall break, used when Hannay and the newscaster is addressing the audience. We wish to include more 4th wall breaks throughout out act to bring forth the comedy of the show, in places such as Mr Memory and the salesman skit. We also felt that we would perform in the style of "the play that goes wrong" as it will coincide with the style of the play nicely. The combination of "the play that goes wrong" and the breaking of the forth wall allows the transitions from one scene to another to be quite simple. This is due to the fact that they then don't need to be over complicated or stylistic, it can simply be someone walking on and setting the stage. However for some scenes there is too much for the transition to be simple, this is why for the train scene and the crofter's house we are utilising the curtain and pre setting it before the scene then revealing it when needed. We are also using the noise the curtain makes as it closes as a sound effect for when we pull the communication chord on the train.