Ferndown Drama 
Barrington Centre, Ferndown 
Becki Dawson 
11 April 2025
Ferndown Drama group have been performing since 1962 at The Barrington Theatre in Ferndown and perform two shows a year.
The 39 Steps is a novel written by John Buchan and adapted for the stage by Patrick Barlow. It has also been portrayed in Alfred Hitchcock’s film of the same name and is the story of Richard Hannay, a boring man who meets a woman with a thick accent who says she’s a spy. He takes her home, and she is murdered by a mysterious organisation – The 39 Steps. The story follows a wild manhunt to track down the killer and for Mr Hannay to prove his innocence.
The usual portrayal of this script is for only 4 actors to take on the many characters that appear throughout the story line, with 2 actors taking on the many supplementary roles around the main characters; however, Ferndown Drama chose to use rather a few more actors in their version!
The director, Karen Ward, set this play with simple but very clever set pieces, and used them to great effect throughout the show. Without giving too much away, the window was one of my favourites! The scene changes were managed well with something else always going on to distract you and draw your attention away.
Casting the supporting roles with different people allowed for more expression of the characters and, I’m sure, a lot less rushing around trying to change costumes! However, at times the comedy lost pace, leaving a few of the jokes to fall a little flat.
The use of the projection screen on stage was good and meant that the audience could follow the show across its travel to the Highlands as well as supporting the actors’ lines. The lighting was simple but effective and complemented the production but occasionally the sound effects were a little clumsy or distracting. The music choices were well thought out.
The casting was effective with allowing some of the originally scripted slapstick and doubling up of parts to shine through, without overdoing it. Particularly effective were Scott Bedwell and Gareth Dunning who between them played at least 7 or 8 different parts, sometimes all within the same scene!
Whilst all of the other actors on stage did a good job, the parts of Pamela and Richard Hannay played by Chloe Partridge and Jeremy Mills respectively, were excellent and allowed for some lovely moments on stage both romantic and hilarious. Jeremy particularly kept the play moving forward and his comedic timing and expressions stole the show.
The 39 Steps is on for just two more shows on Saturday 12 April at 2:30pm and 7:30pm at The Barrington Theatre, Ferndown, and I urge you to go along and have a good laugh.
