Alfred Hitchcock meets Monty Python: ‘The 39 Steps’ opens Friday at the Mansfield Playhouse

MANSFIELD — Alfred Hitchcock was the undisputed king of movie suspense and thrills.

The Englishman directed 50 feature films in a career that spanned six decades, including “The Lady Vanishes,” “Rebecca,” “Lifeboat,” “Spellbound,” “Rear Window,” “Vertigo” and, of course, “Psycho.”

But the often dour-faced Hitchcock never took himself, or his work, too seriously.

“A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission and the babysitter were worth it,” he once said.

“A lot of movies are about life. Mine are like a slice of cake,” Hitchcock said.

That’s why Mansfield resident Steve Russell, born and raised in England, thinks the “Master of Suspense” would love the comedic spoof of Hitchcock’s “The 39 Steps” opening Friday night at the Mansfield Playhouse.

“I always like to think that Hitchcock was a really practical guy in terms of, getting bums on seats and giving the audience a good time,” the 53-year-old veteran performer said.

“I think he’d think as long as you can pull it off and you can make it entertaining, and people leave the theater and they’ve enjoyed themselves, you’ve done a good job,” said Russell, the workforce development coordinator at the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library.

“He was quite happy to chop and change source material around as he saw fit. It was all about, ‘We’re going to make this work however we can make it work.’ He was an expert at that. So I think he’d be fine with (spoofs of his work).”

Russell, as mild-mannered bachelor Richard Hannay, helps to lead a four-member cast of Playhouse regulars in the fast-paced stage show, which is as much a “whatdidhejustdo” as it is a “whodunit.”

The four-member ensemble cast also has Beau Roberts and John Moser, each playing about a dozen different roles, and Josie Burns, who portrays three different characters.

The script is filled with clever references to Hitchcock films, married with the style and physical humor of Monty Python.

It’s one sight gag or turn of a phrase after another, leading the audience on a mad chase through Europe.

Director Doug Wertz answered the challenge of international travel during the show by creating a black box set with a lot of moving pieces.

In fact, the moving of the pieces by the stage crew (including Wertz) at times becomes part of the fun.

“There’s so much to try to organize, especially backstage with all of the pieces and parts,” Wertz said.

“This show takes place in so many different locations from a flat in London to outside at the Scottish Moors, to a train car … a bridge.

“There’s so many different things. So we have decided to go creative here and basically just do suggestive pieces and more of a black-box setting. Give me a box set anytime,” Wertz said.

The show is based on Hitchcock’s 1935 British spy thriller that starred Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll, loosely based on the 1915 novel by John Buchan.

The movie script was originally written by Charles Bennett, who prepared the initial treatment in close collaboration with Hitchcock. Ian Hay then wrote some dialogue.

Like Russell, Wertz said he thinks Hitchcock, who died in 1980, would approve of spoofs featuring his work.

It’s the second time in two years the Mansfield Playhouse has offered a Hitchcock spoof, performing “Wrong Window!” in 2022.

“The man had a sense of humor. He was a little bit dark, but he had a sense of humor. I don’t think he stayed tremendously serious throughout. I think that he would probably appreciate some of that stuff, because he was a funny guy,” Wertz said.

The show is a test of the comedic (and voice accent) talents of even experienced Playhouse performers Moser and Roberts, whose onstage roles include females for the first time in his 20-year adult acting career.

“It’s the first time I’ve done a lot of things (in this show),” said Roberts, a videographer and editor at DRM Productions in Mansfield.

“I’ve been doing this for 20 years as an adult, but I’ve never played more than one character in a show. So that’s something I’ve been wanting to do. I’m excited about that,” said Roberts, making his return to the Playhouse since for the first time since January 2022 in “Play On!”

“I’ve never played a woman. It’s never been my goal to play a woman, but I like the challenge of it,” the 48-year-old said with a laugh.

“I had to learn how to do a Scottish accent. I’ve never had to do that for a show, so that was also a challenge. It was a lot of new things for me to keep me interested,” Roberts said.

For Moser, a 57-year-old Ashland University history professor and author, “The 39 Steps” marks his return to the Playhouse stage for the first time since “Unnecessary Farce” in January 2023.

It came during a busy time of year as he works to finish the semester with his classes, fly to Los Angeles for a television project and prepare to take a group of students to Germany this summer.

Moser said his characters offer about six different accents.

“Three or four are variants on an English accent. There is one that is Scottish and there’s another one that the audience will just have to wait to see,” he said with a laugh.

In a rapidly moving show with just a four-member cast, chemistry is essential. Moser said he is thrilled to work again with Russell, Roberts and Burns.

“It’s just delightful. They are, they’re so solid. I’ve worked with all of them at various times. I’ve seen them on stage in productions that I wasn’t a part of. So having an opportunity to work with a a cast this talented has just been fantastic,” Moser said.

Burns, a middle school teacher at the Spanish Immersion School in Mansfield, knew she wanted to be a part of this show after reading its summary.

“The summary of the show described it as Alfred Hitchcock meets Monty Python. That was all I needed to know,” the 30-year-old said.

Though she described it as “a very silly show,” playing multiple roles provided a challenge for Burns, who performed on the Playhouse Second Stage in November in “Airport Encounters.”

“You wouldn’t expect there to be any sort of deep introspective, ‘Oh, I need to study the script and really dig into this character.’ There actually is somewhat of that, just to make sure that when you play multiple characters, they’re different enough that they’re very distinguished from each other,” she said.

“Just trying to make sure that they were different enough, not only in things like voice, which is kind of easy, but mannerisms and bearing, things like that,” she said.

Burns plays different roles Monday through Friday at school as a middle school teacher, an occupation that has helped her get used to an audience.

“I always joke that I put on five shows a day because that’s how I get kids to listen to me and be interested in what I’m saying. So making people laugh kind of comes naturally to me,” Burns said.

(Below are photos from a dress rehearsal of the comedy spoof “39 Steps” at the Mansfield Playhouse. The show opens Friday night for a two-weekend run.)