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When a serious mystery snaps, it becomes a madcap musical comedy at Circle Bright Productions’ 'The 39 Steps.'
Photo by David Cooper
When a serious who-dunnit becomes a hilarious comedy
The good news is, you haven’t
missed it but, you’ll have to move quickly if you want to get tickets before
the final performance on March 10 at the Norman Rothstein Theatre for Circle
Bright Productions’ musical comedy “The 39 Steps.”
Richmondite Tegan Klancnik
(pronounced like “clans nick”) does the props and scenic art for the production
that integrates many cultures. Just as the original story of the book spanned cultures—written
by a Scot who was then governor-general of Canada, about spies throughout
England and Europe—so too does this play span genres and cultures.
In what is supposed to be an old
movie theatre, a film performance of the film noire classic, “The 39 Steps”
begins to play. Things do not go as planned when the film breaks.
“It’s a movie within a play,”
Klancnik says, “and sometimes the movie is going to kick back in. We are trying
to appeal to movie buffs as well, trying to bring in a different demographic by
bridging the cultural gap between movie-goers and theatre fans—people who might
be Hitchcock buffs, trying to entice some folks in.”
Besides appealing to film noire,
mystery, comedy and musical theatre fans, Circle Bright Productions works to
bridge cultural and linguistic gaps by also appealing to the Chinese community.
The entire production is surtitled, as we find in operas, with simplified Chinese
translation so both the English-speaking and those more comfortable in a
Chinese language can enjoy the production.
The mix is reflective of the mix
Klancnik grew up with in her home town.
“I lived with my mom in an
apartment on Westminster near Garden City Lands.”
Describing herself as a free
range kid, Klancnik says: “My grandparents lived on Ash, right behind the
elementary school and they’d pick me up every day after school, back in the
days when there were ditches to play in. I definitely played in them.”
Also going to classes in her home
city, Klancnik looks back in time as well as forward to the new production.
“My theatre roots are definitely
in Richmond. I owe my gratitude to being a professional theatre artist to that.
I’m excited about this production,” Klancnik says. “There are surprises in the
sets I’m working on.”
With four performances left, “The
39 Steps” runs through Sunday, March 10 at the Norman Rothstein Theatre on 41st
Street and Oak in Vancouver.
Click for tickets.
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