On April 13, Sentinel High School’s theater program performed the last of three performances of their Spring play, The 39 Steps. A fast paced mystery comedy, The 39 Steps takes the audience on a thrilling ride through England and Scotland. The main character, Richard Hannay, played by Rielly Buchholz, meets a wide variety of people while on the run from police and German spies.
Director and Theater teacher, Katie Cassidy, worked with the actors and theater technicians for six weeks to bring The 39 Steps alive in the Margret Johnson Theater. Senior and Theater Club president Andrew Buchholz (who portrayed Mr. Memory) said in an interview, “She makes a point to let everyone have…their moment”. This was certainly the case with such a wide cast in a story that moved quickly. It was clear that all involved took Cassidy’s tutelage, as Buchholz said, “to be the biggest possible… character or person they can be”.
Notably, the most dramatic performances came from Danica Urbanec, Simon Montecillo, Alex Henri, and Andrew Buchholz bringing the house down with laughter. These performances thrived with the comedic pacing of the play.
It’s also important, however, to give credit to the more subtle performances. Savannah Pfile (who portrayed Pamela) was not an over the top character, but instead very convincing and realistic. She entered the play late, but led it through until the end with witty banter between her and Richard Hannay.
And of course the lead, Rielly Buchholz, had the audience follow his journey on the edge of their seats. On stage the vast majority of the time, he let other characters pop in with their dramatics while remaining the grounding point in the ever changing set and cast of characters.
The cast did a great job of flowing through scenes. A slower part that humored the audience was that of a farmer. Simply with a pitchfork and a Scottish accent, Cauldin White had stomachs hurting with his great timing.
When a pair of German spies, Mathew Farnes and Ryan McKeehan, were on stage the smile would not come off my face. Their use of chairs to construct and deconstruct a car was done in a hilarious way, even with it being such a simple task.
The overall use of props was done incredibly well. Three trunks layed evenly on the floor to form a train, a picture frame became a window, a chair and a ladder became a plane. The use of ordinary objects to build the scene created lots of physical humor as the actors moved doors and climbed (stepped) through windows.
The theater technicians were on point as the visuals never missed a beat. Lights and sounds came on seamlessly with the actors’ actions. The lights cutting allowed the scene to be changed or time to pass with fluidity. Music and chatter played on point when doors were opened, alluding to parties and guests beyond.
All involved should feel proud as this was a fantastic show. The work of Cassidy, the actors, and the theater technicians paid off with the wonderful performance. The thrilling adventure the audience was taken on is one to remember. As this year’s seniors leave, we wish them farewell and are assured that Sentinel’s theater program is left in good and capable hands.
