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Published 7:00 am Thursday, March 19, 2026<\/p>\n
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In her program note for Cascades Theatrical Company\u2019s latest stage play, \u201cThe 39 Steps,\u201d director Desi Thrower calls the madcap journey \u201ca theatrical love letter to suspense, cinema and the joy of pure storytelling. Our production embraces the play\u2019s unique blend of high-stakes espionage and low-tech theatrical invention; with some Monty Python-type humor thrown in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The play is rooted in a 1915 spy thriller by John Buchan, which Alfred Hitchcock adapted for the 1935 film. However, Patrick Barlow\u2019s stage adaptation is not merely a film on stage, but rather a celebration of what only live theater can do, Thrower said.<\/p>\n
\u201cRather than grounding the play in gritty realism, we lean fully into its theatricality.\u201d<\/p>\n
When everyman Richard Hannay (played by John Alan Hulbert) is caught up in extraordinary circumstances and the plot unfolds at a rapid pace, he goes from boredom to breathless adventure.<\/p>\n
\u201cHannay\u2019s confusion about whom to trust mirrors our own modern uncertainty in navigating news, narratives and authority. The play\u2019s heightened paranoia may be comic, but its foundation resonates in an age of cyber-espionage and information warfare,\u201d Thrower said. \u201cIn today\u2019s world, where misinformation spreads rapidly, surveillance is a constant topic of debate, and global tensions simmer, the idea of shadowy organizations and unseen threats feels familiar.\u201d<\/p>\n
The show\u2019s four cast members \u2014 Hulbert, Whitney Garner, Don Delach and Daniel Witty \u2014 play dozens of roles, using minimal props and maximal imagination.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy guiding thought throughout rehearsals has been: How can we make the audience complicit in the magic? The humor lands best when the mechanics are visible \u2014 when steamer trunks and ladders become a train, when a singular door frame opens to many adventures, when a single lighting shift transforms London into the Highlands,\u201d Thrower says in her director\u2019s notes.<\/p>\n
Physical comedy plays a major part in the show. Delach and Witty, who play all supporting characters, \u201coperate with choreographic precision, often switching roles in a split second,\u201d according to Thrower. \u201cTiming is everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few trunks, ladders and platforms constitute the world of \u201cThe 39 Steps.\u201d The spartan set is by design, intended to flexible and suggestive. Thrower suggests audiences put their imaginations to work and suspend disbelief.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you see an actor sprint in circles to suggest a chase, or diving through a window that doesn\u2019t exist, you are witnessing theatre in its purest form \u2014 collaborative, inventive, alive,\u201d she writes.<\/p>\n
In a time when theater is saturated with high-budget digital spectacle, Thrower said, \u201c\u2018The 39 Steps\u2019 offers something radically refreshing: imagination over technology. \u2026 In an era of streaming platforms and CGI-heavy blockbusters, the play reminds us that storytelling does not require elaborate effects \u2014 just human connection and shared imagination. That communal experience feels especially valuable after years of social isolation and digital fatigue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Audiences should buckle up for a fun, swift-moving ride, Thrower said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe play\u2019s fast-paced humor provides catharsis. It allows audiences to laugh at danger, poke fun at authority, and momentarily escape the weight of reality. Comedy becomes not trivial, but therapeutic. By parodying the thriller genre while honoring it, the play suggests that even in tense times, wit and creativity endure.\u201d<\/p>\n
What: \u201cThe 39 Steps\u201d
When: Opens 7:30 p.m. Thursday; performs 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sundays, through April 5
Where: Cascades Theatre, 148 NW Greenwood Ave., Bend
Cost: $45, $39 students and seniors
Contact: cascadestheatrical.org<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source bendbulletin.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cascades Theatre hosts fast, funny whodunit \u201939 Steps\u2019 Published 7:00 am Thursday, March 19, 2026 In her program note for Cascades Theatrical Company\u2019s latest stage play, \u201cThe 39 Steps,\u201d director Desi Thrower calls the madcap journey \u201ca theatrical love letter to suspense, cinema and the joy of pure storytelling. Our production embraces the play\u2019s unique […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2337417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2337416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Cascades-Theatre-hosts-fast-funny-whodunit-39-Steps.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2337416"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2337418,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337416\/revisions\/2337418"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2337417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2337416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2337416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2337416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}