The 39 Steps Curriculum Guide

Š Huntington Theatre Company Boston, MA 02115 September 2007 No portion of this Teacher Curriculum Guide may be reproduced without written permission from the Huntington Theatre Company’s Department of Education.

Inquiries should be directed to: Donna Glick, Director of Education Huntington Theatre Company 264 Huntington Avenue Boston, MA 02115

Limelight

teacher literary & curriculum guide September 14 - October 14, 2007 at the Boston University Theatre 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston

HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY IN RESIDENCE AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY

Nicholas Martin

IN RESIDENCE AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director

Michael Maso Managing Director

Table of Contents STAFF

Table of Contents 3 Synopsis 4 Patrick Barlow: Collaborative Creation 6 A True Original: John Buchan’s Spy Novel 8 The Movie: Humor and Suspense Abounding

This Teacher Literary and Curriculum Guide was prepared for the Huntington Theatre Company by Marisa Jones, Education Consultant With contributions by Donna Glick, Director of Education Ilana Brownstein, Literary Manager

10 Audience Etiquette

Kristen Gandrow, Freelance Writer and Dramaturg

10 Background & Objectives

Elisha Sawyer, Education Intern

11 Preparation for The 39 Steps

Amanda Rota, Education Department Manager

13 Open Response & Writing Assignments

Melissa Wagner-O’Malley, Layout

14 Mastery Assessment 14 Related Works and Resources 15 Media Assessment 16 Questions for After the Performance 17 Lesson Plans 17 For Further Exploration 19 Handout 1: Vocabulary 20 Handout 2: Adaptation Worksheet Proud Sponsor

September 14 - October 14, 2007 at the Boston University Theatre 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston

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SYNOPSIS

The 39 Steps I

t’s 1935, and the debonair Canadian Richard Hannay has made his fortune. But now that he’s comfortably installed in a rented flat in London, he is stricken with ennui. The antidote to banish his malaise? A music hall variety show featuring the amazing Mr. Memory. When shots ring out in the theatre, Hannay suddenly finds himself in the company of the melodramatic but deadly serious Annabella, who claims to be a secret agent and is begging for his help in tracking down a master of disguises, who is trafficking national security secrets. She mentions the mysterious 39 Steps, a peculiar place in Scotland, and a pair of thugs she suspects are tailing her, but doesn’t get the chance to explain her cryptic message.

A murder sends Hannay on the run, pursued by the police and an assortment of miscreants. In a classic “wrong man” scenario, Hannay becomes the target who needs to untangle a murder mystery in order to clear his good name. In desperation, he dons increasingly incredible disguises to evade pursuers both inept and truly threatening.

On the Flying Scotsman train he meets the beautiful and innocent Pamela, who’s drawn into his scheme but wants no part of it.

Hannay escapes his stalkers once again, and the chase resumes.

Finally arriving in Scotland, Hannay takes refuge in a farmhouse, but dark forces approach, and he’s forced to leap from a window, escaping onto the moors and into the night. At last he reaches Alt Na Shellach, a castle inhabited by a professor and his wife. But are they spies or double agents? The man pulls out a gun and shoots when Hannay asks too many questions.

Again tracked by spies and local authorities, Hannay takes another miraculous leap to safety — almost. When the unhelpful but sexy Pamela reappears, and a kidnapping backfires, the pair blunders through the highlands. Luckily, they are mistaken for honeymooners by a pair of innkeepers who keep their secret with a wink and a nod. Eventually, Hannay flees as Pamela tries to give him up, this time to Scotland Yard.

When Hannay returns to the London music hall for a showdown, it’s unclear who spies for whom. Another gunshot rings out in the theatre before the truth is revealed, order and national security are restored, and Richard Hannay returns to his life, just as he left it — or so it seems. Could there be a final twist to this jam-packed, mile-a-minute, physical comedy? Stay tuned…. – KG

Limelight Literary & Curriculum Guide 2007-2008

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Jimmy Chisolm and Simon Gregor in the London production of The 39 Steps; photo: Tristam Kenton. Inset, Patrick Barlow

PATRICK BARLOW

Collaborative Creation W

riter and actor Patrick Barlow has a real-life alter ego who might be considered as much a master of disguises as the characters in The 39 Steps. When not adapting old Hitchcock movies and spy novels for the stage, Barlow doubles as Desmond Olivier Dingle: founder, artistic director, and all-around head of the two-man National Theatre of Brent (a borough of London). Since the 1980s, Barlow — most often in the guise of his alter ego — has appeared on stage, film, television, and BBC radio.

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With characteristic understatement, often presented as fanciful overstatement by a cast of two actors, the National Theatre of Brent has tackled such epics as The Charge of the Light Brigade, The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Complete Guide to Sex, and a severely abbreviated rendition of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung — the Ring Cycle in just over an hour. The company’s chosen limitation provides its particular style of success.

The 39 Steps continues the series of grand-scale stories that Barlow has created for the stage. He is cited as “a leading light

in what might be called the reductionist movement: the brand of comedy in which epic-sized classics are tackled, with immense energy and (apparently) pokerfaced seriousness, by tiny casts,” The Times critic Richard Morrison wrote in his 2006 review of the Tricycle Theatre’s first London production of the play.

For inspiration on his most recent project, Barlow looked to an unproduced four-person version of John Buchan’s 1915 spy novel, The Thirty-Nine Steps, written for the stage by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon. The original book “is

The Criterion Theatre, 2007; photo: Matthew Lloyd

quite boring and fairly bizarre,” according to Barlow, but his interest was piqued by the idea of using only four actors for such a complex plot. “Anything minimal’s interesting to me,” he said. Barlow adapted Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film version of the Buchan novel into a story for a leading man in a single role, a leading woman in three primary female roles, and two more men the script calls “the clowns,” playing the numerous roles that remained. It was either going to be genius or a trainwreck.

During the play’s genesis, director Emil Wolk and the designer known only as Ultz contributed vital ideas that Barlow is quick to credit. Lead character Richard Hannay’s on-the-edge state of mind was clarified by Ultz as suicidal rather than merely bored, making all his actions into real life-and-death undertakings.

Barlow and his collaborators emulated the creative style of Alfred Hitchcock and his screenwriter, Charles Bennett, who while writing the screenplay, rented a 250-

seat steamboat while scarfing gourmet food, swilling champagne, and acting out the story in order to get it right. For Barlow and his team, feasts followed by cigars, lengthy pub lunches, and even boat trips on the Thames were the order of the day as they tried to work out the kinks in their own script.

Then in 2005, another artistic team, this time led by director Fiona Buffini, produced the play’s world premiere.

John Buchan’s The 39 Steps, adapted by Patrick Barlow, had its debut at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds. After its run, the production embarked on a United Kingdom tour. Its success eventually led the production to London’s West End. In seeking a director for the play’s London debut in 2006, the Tricycle Theatre hired the multi-talented Maria Aitken, known for her skilled acting in physical comedy. She had appeared in similarly styled comedies by Noël Coward and Alan Ayckbourn that

Barlow’s interest was piqued by the idea of using only four actors for such a complex plot.

“Anything minimal’s interesting to me,” he said. employed sight gags and fast-paced dialogue laced with double entendre.

Aitken’s forty-year career as an actor, director, writer, and producer for stage, film, and television made her the perfect choice for Patrick Barlow’s rollicking adaptation.

Barlow and Aitken collaborated on the first London production and the play enjoyed a sold-out run at the Tricycle, a venue lauded for its adventurous fare. It transferred to the Criterion Theatre in the West End in the fall of 2006, where it won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, and is scheduled to continue its run into 2008.

Esteemed British theatre critic Sheridan Morley commented in the Daily Express, “At the same time a celebration and a parody, this 39 Steps manages to recapture a whole lost world of black and white movie thrillers.”

The Huntington Theatre Company’s production is the United States premiere; the show is next slated for Broadway. – KG Limelight Literary & Curriculum Guide 2007-2008

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Victoria Railway Station, early 1900s; photo: Bettman/Corbis

A TRUE ORIGINAL

John Buchan’s Spy Novel N

ovelist John Buchan (1875-1940), was born into a happy family in Fife, Scotland. The son of a minister, he was raised in South Africa, graduated from Glasgow University, and earned a law degree from Brasenose College, Oxford University, in England. Upon his marriage, he settled in Hyde Park Square, London. Between 1894 and 1940, Buchan was a prolific writer of novels, 6

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short stories, poetry, nonfiction essays, biographies, and technical articles, all while he held numerous military and governmental positions on behalf of the British Empire.

Buchan’s governmental service played a large role in his life, and was often reflected in his writing. In 1901, he received a post as a colonial administrator in South Africa, and took part in the

colony’s reconstruction following the Second Boer War. During World War I, he worked in Britain’s Foreign Office and War Office before becoming the director of intelligence in the Ministry of Information. Buchan described this position as equal parts propaganda, politics, and espionage. His wartime duties included activities and events many found incredible, but it provided fodder for his writing, as is clearly evident in the spynovel style of The Thirty-Nine Steps.

During peacetime, Buchan was immersed in both politics and religion. In 1927 he was elected to Parliament; three years later he became Lord High Commissioner of the Church of Scotland.

In 1935 Buchan was granted the title First Baron Tweedsmuir of Elsfield, and was appointed Governor General of Canada, Commander-in-Chief of the Dominion, a post he enjoyed and in which he was quite successful. His life and work reflected the values of a Victorian gentleman — duty, patriotism in the form of self-confident imperialism, and a sense of decency tinged with xenophobia. The themes of The Thirty-Nine Steps are grounded in these 19th century mores.

Buchan wrote a series of novels centered on the main character of Richard Hannay, a Canadian gentleman. They include The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915), its sequel, Greenmantle (1916), Mr. Standfast (1919), The Three Hostages (1924), The Courts of the Morning (1929), and The Island of Sheep (1936). It’s likely that Hannay was based on Lord Ironside of Archangel, an intelligence officer in the Boer War who used disguises to penetrate enemy lines.

The books keep up a breathless pace of rollicking adventure, as if espionage were little more than good sport.

Tales about spies began to gain ground in the public’s consciousness during Buchan’s life, possibly touched off by the popularity of books like James Fenimore Cooper’s 1821 The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground. In England, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes novel, A

Study In Scarlet, appeared in 1887. In addition, Baroness Emmuska Orczy published The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905) and later, The Spy of Napoleon (1934). Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent (1907) also characterizes the early espionage genre. It was made into a play in 1923, and in 1936, Alfred Hitchcock adapted the story for his film, Sabotage.

Well before Ian Fleming turned dashing spies and bombshell dames into pop culture currency with his James Bond novels, John Buchan was doing it in his Richard Hannay books. Buchan is generally credited as the creator of the modern spy novel because he originated so many vital elements of the genre, including a number of now wellrecognized plot points, character types, and unique settings. One entails the imperative transporting of someone or something beyond extreme obstacles, often with potentially dire consequences. There is usually a deadline that will be difficult to meet and lethal if ignored. Beautiful but mysterious women often need saving from some villainous plot or persons. Seemingly trivial details unfold as crucial issues of national security.

Opponents in spy novels may not be obvious outlaws, but instead may appear to include the police and the secret agent’s own contacts or superiors in the guise of double agents. The protagonist — a lone agent — may also be unable to ask for help lest his identity be revealed.

These typically upper class gentlemenheroes are always sporting types, preferring outdoor pursuits and hand-to-hand combat. They certainly are able to sustain the stiff upper lip expected of the landed gentry in Britain.

Buchan’s native Scotland serves as an alien, and therefore exotic locale in The Thirty-Nine Steps elevating the story into circumstances unknown by most readers — another characteristic of successful espionage stories. The writer’s own life held many parallels to that of his invent-

Film still, Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps; photo: Collection Cahiers du Cinema

Buchan is generally credited as the creator of the modern spy novel because he originated so many vital elements of the genre. ed hero, Hannay. There’s the matter of time spent in South Africa to gain one’s fortune, followed by the establishment of a fashionable home in London’s Portland Place, then a smart West End address for upstanding citizens of a certain class. Buchan and Hannay were the sort of men who frequented posh gentlemen’s social clubs, country house weekends, and shooting parties.

Both the writer and his novel’s protagonist desired to make patriotic efforts to serve and uphold the country. But Buchan’s real life was not as exciting as Hannay’s. For a time he was ill, and forced to rest and recuperate at a seaside retreat in Kent. There he had to navigate a long staircase from the hilltop cottage to a beach below — the original (and much more mundane) thirty-nine steps.

In the novel, Buchan’s “steps” refer to the literal number of stair steps between

a cliff and beach rendezvous point used by the spies, and is also used as the name of a secret society of those same villains. The point of the title, however, is less important than the attendant sense of foreboding. Is British civilization mere steps away from impending disaster? Playing on this anxiety, Buchan labeled his story “a shocker,” filling it with incredible scenes, allegiances, and betrayals he could only imagine.

Buchan’s novels held up well into the mid-20th century when his old-fashioned values and style were replaced by more sophisticated techniques better suited to the Cold War era. The early spy novelists of the 20th century, known as “Clubland” writers, imagined the romantic world of the Great Game, a now-quaint life of intrigue that cannot compare to what surprises us today. – KG Limelight Literary & Curriculum Guide 2007-2008

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THE MOVIE

Humor and Suspense Abounding A lfred Hitchcock’s famous movie, The 39 Steps (1935), an adaptation of the original 1915 novel by John Buchan, was so successful that it inspired numerous subsequent film versions of its story. Playwright and actor Patrick Barlow recalls as a boy seeing the dapper Kenneth More star in a 1959 remake (also called The 39 Steps) — the first film version in color — directed by Ralph Thomas.

Another film appeared in 1978 (The Thirty-Nine Steps), directed by Don Sharp and featuring a number of popular British actors. This version’s smoothly implacable leading man, Robert Powell, went on to star in a late-1980s British television series, “Hannay,” based on the main character, with nary a hair out of place.

Alfred Hitchcock first read Buchan’s novel in 1919 as a 20-year-old, when he

had just begun work in the movie industry. Anecdotes of Hitchcock’s life assert that the novel so impressed him, he vowed if he ever became a film director, he would make a movie of the “rattling good book.” By the time he was ready to follow through on that promise, he knew enough about screenplays to understand that a movie of The Thirty-Nine Steps needed different pacing, romance, and more spice than the book. Decades later, Patrick Barlow came to the same conclusions as Hitchcock, and wrote his adaptation for the stage using Hitchcock’s film as his main inspiration, rather than Buchan’s book. Barlow has described Hitchcock’s film as “utterly brilliant, dangerous and light at the same time, beautifully structured, witty, thrilling and very sexy.”

Hitchcock likened his films to a roller coaster ride — a breakneck pace with unstable jolts, cut short by a stomachdropping thrill.

Film still, Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (1935), Madeleine Carroll and Robert Donat; photo: Collection Cahiers du Cinema

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The 39 Steps initiated many of Hitchcock’s trademark “film noir” elements he repeated in later films such as Young and Innocent (1937), The Lady Vanishes (1938), Foreign Correspondent (1940), North by Northwest (1959), and others. The attributes of film noir — such as untrustworthy femme fatales, jocular repartee with ominous undertones, convoluted chases, and complex webs of facts and red herrings — became hall-

Alfred Hitchcock directs Madeleine Carroll and Robert Donat in The 39 Steps (1935); photo: Gaumont British

marks of Hitchcock’s style. He was especially fond of including a “MacGuffin” — a superfluous plot point that sets the story in motion, which he described as a hoax or a gimmick used to divert the audience down winding, but ultimately false paths.

On film, The 39 Steps begins with a lighthearted entertainment — Mr. Memory’s vaudeville act — but it is immediately set on edge with a strangely canted film angle and an ominous musical score. These kinds of cinematic innovations unbalanced viewers, heightening the suspense. Hitchcock likened his films to a roller coaster ride — a breakneck pace with unstable jolts, cut short by a stomach-dropping thrill.

Barlow picks up on the these threads, enlarging them for the stage, while simultaneously creating an unexpectedly broad farce that masterfully sustains

not only the breathtaking pace of the film, but also its suspense and mystery.

Elements of Hitchcock’s work were drawn from aspects of his own working class life — he famously described his movies as “life with the dull bits cut out.” As an awkward and lonely youth, he memorized train and tram timetables in his east London home; he observed rather than participated in life. Neither he nor his father, a greengrocer, had the dash or derring-do of the heroes and heroines he imagined. It is not surprising, then, that scenes of social complacency typically appear in Hitchcock films, hovering just barely above the chaos that constantly lurks nearby.

Furthermore, his social observations about foreign and domestic threats certainly comment on British imperialism and the blind sense that all is well with

the world, wherever the British sun sets.

Hitchcock’s warning in The 39 Steps is about secrets and dangers at home and abroad, and the story is rooted in the ethos of the war that had ravaged Europe less than twenty years earlier. Hitchcock offered up a world in which everything was suspect, and no one could be trusted — especially figures of authority. A particular form of nationalistic pride thrived in the era sandwiched between the two World Wars, and filmgoers certainly recognized the political warning implicit in Hitchcock’s story, just as post-World War I Britons strongly identified with the nationalism of John Buchan’s original novel. Through pointed humor, Patrick Barlow’s new stage adaptation again offers audiences the chance to cast a gimlet eye upon the power structures that continue to drive world events. – KG Limelight Literary & Curriculum Guide 2007-2008

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BACKGROUND

& Objectives Use the following synopsis and objectives to inform your teaching of The 39 Steps curriculum.

BU Theatre by T. Charles Erickson

Audience Etiquette Because many students have not had the opportunity to view live theatre, we are including an audience etiquette section with each literary/curriculum guide. Teachers, please spend time on this subject since it will greatly enhance your students’ experience at the theatre.

1. How does one respond to a live performance of a play, as opposed to when seeing a film at a local cinema? What is the best way to approach viewing a live performance of a play?

What things should you look and listen for?

A

s The 39 Steps begins, we find Londoner Richard Hannay, bored and troubled with his life, looking for a diversion and finding one at a West End show. Meeting Annabella, a fellow audience member, immediately changes his sense of futility.

She is an undercover agent on a mission to protect sensitive British Air Ministry secrets from being taken out of the country. After her murder in his flat, Hannay must carry on the operation despite being chased by Scotland Yard and enemy spies. In solving the mystery of the thirty-nine steps not only does Hannay save the world for all humanity, but also makes it better for himself.

OBJECTIVES Students will: 1. Identify key issues in The 39 Steps including: • futility of life vs. saving the world • allies or enemies?

• the search for love • deception and disguise 2. Relate themes and issues in the play to their own lives.

3. Consider the process necessary for successfully adapting material across genres of the novel, screenplay and a theatrical production.

4. Participate in hands-on activities that enhance understanding of the production.

5. Evaluate the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of The 39 Steps.

2. What is the audience’s role during a live performance? How do you think audience behavior can affect an actor’s performance?

3. What do you know about the theatrical rehearsal process?

Have you ever participated in one as an actor, singer, director, or technical person?

4. How do costumes, set, lights, sound and props enhance a theatre production?

Charles Edwards (left) and Rupert Degas (right) from the original London cast of The 39 Steps

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situations, mistaken identity, slapstick, and innuendo. Ask students to identify any recent or current movies, television shows or video on the internet which showcases farcical elements. Most farces build toward a grand finale in which the protagonist is neatly relieved from his predicament. Neither the original novel

by John Buchan, nor Alfred Hitchcock’s film version is considered comic or farcical. Research Patrick Barlow’s theatrical career and artistic background. Why do you think Barlow altered the mood and tone of the original story for his play?

Why might this play be considered a farce? Which elements of farce does it seem to lack?

John Buchan in his library; photo: Queen’s University Archives

Preparation for THE 39 STEPS Use the following ideas to engage your class in thinking about John Buchan, introducing them to The 39 Steps and its major themes.

JOHN BUCHAN Many consider the original novel The Thirty-Nine Steps, which inspired an Alfred Hitchcock film that in turn inspired Patrick Barlow’s new play, to have been John Buchan’s greatest literary achievement. Written in 1915, it is the first in a series of five novels that Buchan wrote about the character Richard Hannay and his adventures in espionage. He based Hannay’s character on a close personal friend from South Africa. Buchan himself was a world traveler, a student of law and literature, and a success in both politics and writing. His novels received much international attention, and his autobiography Memory Hold-the-Door was said to be

one of President John F. Kennedy’s favorite books. Continue investigating Buchan’s life and works. In what ways is he a controversial figure? How did his political career influence his artistic one? Why do you think The Thirty-Nine Steps is still attracting interest nearly a century after it was written?

COMIC CONVENTIONS Ask students what makes something funny. Encourage them to respond beyond just physical humor and to look at plot elements such as mistaken identities, double-life motif, obstacles, and recognition scenes. Ask the students to give specific examples from books, plays, movies, television or the internet.

The 39 Steps in its play form could be classified as a farce, a fast-paced theatrical form that draws humor from improbable

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS, BUCHAN AND BARLOW The following are interesting facts about The Thirty-Nine Steps, its author, playwright and movie director. Ask students to add to this list from their own research on the background of Buchan, Barlow and Alfred Hitchcock, as well as the time periods covered by each work.

• Buchan wrote The Thirty-Nine Steps while sick in bed with an ulcer condition from which he would suffer for the rest of his life.

• Barlow’s theatrical version of The 39 Steps is based on Hitchcock’s 1935 film version, which is significantly different from the novel.

• Barlow’s play opened in 2006 at London’s Tricycle Theatre.

• Pamela, the love interest, was not a character in Buchan’s original novel.

• Buchan has been criticized for antiSemitism, but was an activist for Jewish causes during the 1930s.

• Barlow’s comic alter ego is Desmond Olivier Dingle.

• Barlow had roles in the following films: Nanny McPhee (2005), Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), and Shakespeare in Love (1998).

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sion, use the following questions to help clarify opinions. Students may also write their responses as well:

KEY ISSUES Futility of Life vs. Saving the World Hannay contemplates suicide during his opening monologue, lamenting: “What does it all matter?” Despite being a gentleman of comfortable means, he is overcome by boredom and cynicism. His friends—all married, career-driven or lost in the war— have left him alone to question the purpose of his own existence. With seemingly nothing to lose, he embraces the challenge of carrying on Annabella’s top-secret mission after she is assassinated in his flat. Only a few hours earlier he had been ready to give up on the world, and suddenly he will stop at nothing to save it. The play successfully delivers a strong one-two punch, “a moment of no return” for the protagonist, Hannay. Does this dangerous spy mission give Hannay a purpose for living? How does it change his view of the world and his place in it?

In a free-write session, ask students to share a personal experience or an experience of someone they know which would be characterized as a “moment of no return.” Why is it likely that a decision made during these instances will influence one’s life dramatically?

Allies or Enemies?

The 39 Steps takes the audience on a series of misadventures as our hero, Hannay, navigates a complicated web of lies, misinformation and untrustworthy characters. He is never sure whom to trust or where to turn. Despite her best intentions, Annabella sends him on a futile errand to find a professor who, while initially thought to be an ally, turns out to be the mastermind villain. Hannay must outrun him as well as the police in order to secure the secret of the thirty-nine steps. Hannay even resorts to his own mild deceptions, using various costumes and aliases to outwit his pursuers. In the end it is Pamela, a woman who frustrated Hannay’s progress at nearly every turning point, who turns out to be an unlikely ally and champion for his cause. Engage stu12

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a. Is there ever a good reason to lie?

If so, what might be such reasons?

Brainstorm with your class on these topics. b. Are the following good reasons to lie?

Why or why not?

To keep from hurting someone’s feelings?

To save someone from embarrassment?

To protect someone?

To protect yourself?

Catherine McCormack and Charles Edward from the original London cast of The 39 Steps.

To manipulate events for a potentially positive outcome? c. For what reasons should you not lie?

dents in a discussion of how we can tell our friends from our enemies, and what things might cause us to be mistaken about those judgments.

The Search for Love Pamela is suspicious of Hannay from their first encounter, convinced he is a philanderer. There is much evidence in the play to support her suspicion, as Hannay manages to steal kisses from Pamela and Margaret and nearly from Annabella, who dropped dead of a stab wound in his living room at night. Despite these constant flirtations, or perhaps because of them, the professor diagnoses Hannay as a man who has never found true love or meaning in his life. Hoping to fill that void, he recruits Hannay for his own evil purpose. But the end of the play reveals Hannay as a changed man, one who finds love in an unlikely place. Are we surprised that Hannay settles down, or did he simply find what he was searching for all along?

DECEPTION AND DISGUISE Deception Ask students to discuss the differences in meaning between: lying, deception, duplicity, lie, and white lie. Following this discus-

For revenge?

To further a selfish end?

What are some other examples?

Disguise Ask students to list different disguises they wear in a week’s time. At first, most students will deny that they wear any disguise. This is when the fun can begin.

Alert the class members to the various fashion “looks” that are frequently adopted to look tough, cool, sophisticated, rich, smart, or sexy. Many students will have work or school uniforms to consider.

Once the class has been sensitized to the concept of disguises, the list of responses will grow. Then ask students to express how they feel and behave when they are dressed in different “costumes.”

Ask students to consider how they might disguise themselves so cleverly that their own boy/girl friends would not recognize them. What would they need, e.g. wigs, make-up, beards, hats, glasses, etc? How might mannerisms and changing the tone of voice complete the deception? A few students might enjoy designing a disguise and modeling it for the rest of the class.

you prefer movies or books with unpredictable plot twists, or do you like to be given enough information to solve the mystery for yourself?

3. Select one of the following quotes and discuss it in essay form.

“And I was bored …Tired of the world and tired of life to be honest.”

“Oh we will give you love Hannay.

And in return? You will love us!!

The master race. On our great unstoppable march.”

The train “The Flying Scotsman” at Kings Cross station

OPEN RESPONSE & WRITING

Assignments Instructions for students: Please answer the following as thoroughly as possible in a wellplanned, carefully written essay. Remember to use topic sentences and examples from the text.

6. Describe the (comic) radio announcements about Hannay.

What purpose do they serve as the play unfolds?

OPEN RESPONSE ASSESSMENT 1. Explain the meaning of the play’s title, The 39 Steps. How does the meaning of the title for the novel differ from the movie and play?

7. What are the physical powers demonstrated by Hannay to overcome various obstacles throughout The 39 Steps? What dramatic purpose is served by Hannay’s continual need to confront barriers on his journey to discover answers to a mystery?

2. Do you think the “Mr. Memory Show” turned out to be, as Hannay described West End shows, “mindless and trivial”? Why or why not?

3. To what “Master Race” is Professor Jordan referring? What negative political associations might he have?

4. Why is it more believable to the milkman that Hannay needs his coat to escape an angry husband than to outwit trained assassins?

5. Why does Margaret stay with her religious zealot of a husband, the Crofter? Should Hannay have tried to help her escape?

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS 1. Throughout The 39 Steps, characters make negative comments regarding marriage—the play seems to lack a favorable representation of a good marriage. Based on the attitudes of those around him and his playboy past, is it surprising that Hannay decides to start a family? Discuss in a single paragraph.

2. At what point in the play did you realize that Mr. Memory held the secret of the thirty-nine steps? In general, do

“My whole life is spent in trying to help people, in giving them wise, sensible advice … and what’s the result? They batten on me!”

“Let’s just set ourselves resolutely to make this world a happier place …

Where no neighbor plots against neighbor, where there’s no persecution or hunting down, where everybody gets a square deal and a sporting chance and where people try to help and not to hinder!” “[The thirty-nine steps] was a big job to learn it sir. The biggest job I ever had to tackle! And I don’t want to throw it all away sir.”

4. Choose one of the main characters in The 39 Steps and write a journal entry from his or her perspective, expanding on what we already know.

Place the character at a key moment in the play, a time critical to propelling the action of the play forward.

5. Write an essay comparing differences and similarities between The 39 Steps as a book, screenplay and play.

Consider personal, political and social beliefs of each author, as well as the time periods in which each was conceived and written. What current events might have influenced each author?

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MASTERY

Assessment ACT ONE 1. Why is Hannay unhappy? Where does he go to relieve his boredom?

2. Who fires the gun in the theatre?

What effect does the incident have on Mr. Memory?

3. Describe Annabella’s demise. What information does she leave with Hannay?

4. How does Hannay escape Annabella’s assassins? Who finds her dead body?

5. Who does Hannay sit with on the Edinburgh train? What does their newspaper say about Annabella’s death?

6. Who gives Hannay up to the police and, despite being on a moving train, how does he escape?

7. What is a crofter? Describe the Crofter and Margaret’s relationship.

How does Margaret discover Hannay’s identity?

8. Where is Hannay headed when he takes off through the moors? Who is after him?

9. What is the meaning of “Alt Na Shellach?” After finally managing to get to the Alt Na Shellach, who does the professor turn out to be?

ACT TWO 10. Why did the Sheriff pretend to believe Hannay’s story about the professor? How does Hannay escape?

11. Who does Hannay see in the crowd while posing as Captain McAlistair?

What action does she take?

12. How do the “Heavies” convince Pamela that she needs to stay with them? How do Hannay and Pamela finally break free?

13. Where do Hannay and Pamela spend the night? Why must they sleep in the same bed?

14. For what reason does Pamela no longer believe that Hannay is a murderer?

15. Why does Hannay become angry at Pamela after learning she believes his story?

16. What connection does Pamela have to Scotland Yard?

17. What show does the professor see at the Palladium?

18. How is it that the Air Ministry does not believe it has lost any vital information or is in danger of a security breach?

19. According to Mr. Memory, what are the thirty-nine steps?

20. What is the play’s happy ending?

Related Works and Resources YOU MIGHT EXPLORE OTHER BOOKS BY PATRICK BARLOW (AND HIS ALTER EGO DESMOND OLIVIER DINGLE), SUCH AS: The Complete History of the Whole World: Or from Amoeba to Cosmonaut. Nick Hern Books, 2002.

Shakespeare: The Truth or From Glover to Genius. Heinemann, 1995.

YOU MIGHT ALSO EXPLORE THE FOLLOWING WORKS AS SUPPLEMENTS TO THIS LITERARY AND CURRICULUM GUIDE. Buchan, John. The Thirty-Nine Steps. Readers’ League of America, 1915.

Le Carre, John. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Scribner, 2002 Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, directed by Stanley Kubrik and David Naylor. Sony Pictures, 1964.

Stalag 17, directed by Billy Wilder. Paramount, 1953.

True Lies, directed by James Cameron. 20th Century Fox, 1994.

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best capture this meaning through a piece of visual art?

CREATING CHARACTERIZATION Have each student choose a character from The 39 Steps to portray. As if preparing for the role in rehearsal, ask students to answer the following questions about their characters: (a) What is my objective in the play, and which obstacles stand in my way? (b) How, if at all, does my character transform during the course of the play? (c) Are there any contradictions inherent in my character? (d) What do other characters think of my character, and what does my character think of them?

Alfred Hitchcock directs Madeleine Carroll and Robert Donat in The 39 Steps (1935); photo: Gaumont British

MEDIA

Assessment The following exercises are interactive, hands-on challenges in Drama, Music, Visual Arts and Design. They aim to give students a better understanding of the many kinds of tasks that contribute to a theatrical production.

STAGE COMBAT All fight scenes must be carefully choreographed so that the actors can simulate a physical confrontation without suffering any bodily harm. Mastering this choreography can take hours of physically demanding practice, which continues until the very day of the performance. Just before the curtain rises, a fight captain (usually a stage manager) runs one last rehearsal, called a “fight call,” to remind the actors of the necessary muscle movements. Not having undergone this training, you are not ready to perform stage

combat at full speed. In groups of four, choose one of the various escape scenes in which Hannay manages to evade his pursuers. After rehearsal, share this scene with the class. Consider the following questions: (a) How do you create the illusion of physicality? (b) How do you remain in character while also communicating safety issues with your partner?

VISUAL ARTS The meaning of the “thirty-nine steps” changed with each new interpretation of John Buchan’s original novel. Create a drawing, painting or collage that reflects what the thirty-nine steps mean to you.

Buchan chose the title after seeing a long set of stairs at the home where he was recuperating while writing this famous story. What symbolism might you attribute to the play’s title? And how can you

PERFORMING FARCE A farce is a fast-paced theatrical form that draws humor from improbably situations, mistaken identities, slapstick and innuendo. First, have students brainstorm titles of movies, television shows and plays where farce drives the action or plot. Second, have students improvise a scene from The 39 Steps or a favorite example mentioned during the brainstorming session. Finally, after viewing the performance of The 39 Steps, divide the class into four acting groups and ask each group to stage the same scene. Share scenes with the class and discuss how farcical elements influenced both directors and actors.

A DIRECTING AND DESIGN CHALLENGE Presenting The 39 Steps in a theatre creates a unique set of directing and design challenges not present in the film, radio or literary versions. As an action/adventure, the pace is fast and the scenery is constantly changing. What scenes will be most difficult to stage? How will sound and lighting be used to enhance the action of the story? Create a list of potential staging problems and then create a list of possible solutions. Did you agree with how the Huntington staged this production?

And if you have not yet seen the play, how do you think the artistic team will handle these staging issues?

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QUESTIONS AFTER

Attending the Performance Note to teachers: Before attending a performance of The 39 Steps, pass out these questions to students and go over question 1 with them.

1. Above the stage of the Huntington Theatre there is an inscription that states: “To hold as ‘twere the mirror up to nature.” There is also an inscription in the theatre’s entryway that says “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances and one man in his time plays many parts.”

From what plays are these lines? What do you think they mean? Why do you think the original owners of the theatre had these quotations inscribed?

With these quotes in mind, consider the following questions while watching a performance of The 39 Steps.

2. What was your overall reaction? Were you surprised? Intrigued? Amused?

Explain your reactions.

3. What clues did the set and costumes of The 39 Steps give you about this play’s characters before they said or did anything?

4. How did the actor’s physicalization of their characters enhance the interpretation of each character? Give specific examples such as the way the actors walked, chewed food, sat, gestured, warmed up, handled equipment, and so forth.

5. Discuss the actor’s uses of their voices.

Did each character have a distinct voice? What role did accent have in this play? Support your answers.

6. Point out some interesting details of staging. How did those particular staging touches add to the impact of the story?

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7. Did the physical elements of the Huntington’s production (i.e., the sets, props, costuming and lighting) suggest different things about the characters? Discuss the many ways that the set, props, costumes, and light and sound designs of this pro-

duction served its director and actors.

Consider each element individually.

Note: The teacher may want to assign groups of students one production element (set, props, costumes, sound, music, etc.) to concentrate on during the performance.

Lesson Plans Teachers’ note: Choose activities that are appropriate for your classroom period. All assignments are suggestions. Only a teacher knows his or her class well enough to determine the level and depth to which any piece of literature may be examined.

ONE-DAY LESSON PLAN introduces students to the context and major themes of the production.

DAY ONE - Introducing the Play 1. Distribute Mastery Assessment (P. 14) for The 39 Steps for students to read before, and to review again after attending the performance.

Optional: Distribute Vocabulary Handout and ask students to define each word. A vocabulary test could be administered after viewing the play.

2. Read the Synopsis (P. 3) of the play. Discuss other works students have studied with similar themes and issues.

3. If time allows, discuss further pages from the literary guide, narrating highlights for students.

Lesson Plans continued on page 18.

For Further Exploration Note to Teachers: The following ideas and questions can be used to further explore the text. They can be used as prompts for class discussion or additional writing assignments.

1. Buchan described his novel The Thirty-Nine Steps as a “shocker,” meaning that his readers would struggle to believe his story. Do you think The 39 Steps as a story is unrealistic? Is it as plausible as other works in its genre? Think of three contemporary adventure films or spy novels that ask the audience to suspend disbelief for the sake of the story.

4. After getting its start in London’s equivalent of an “off-Broadway” theatre, The 39 Steps moved to London’s West End, home of the famous Theatreland. Theatreland is home to as many as forty commercial theatres and produces some of the world’s most beloved plays and musicals. Many successful productions move from Theatreland to Broadway (or other notable theatres like the Huntington!) Continue your research of London’s prestigious theatre scene. How does the West End compare to Broadway? What is Theatreland’s longest running musical (it’s no longer CATS!)?

Why do you think that many prominent American actors seek work in the historic West End?

2. The stage directions in The 39 Steps often call for “canned applause.”

Is this a device commonly used in modern film or television? Where would you hear a laugh track or pre-recorded applause? Is it helpful or distracting to you as an audience member?

5. Real persons and fictional characters reflect the time in which they live or exist. Research Victorian times and British history in order to better understand the motivations behind Hannay’s actions.

What are the core values represented by Hannay throughout The 39 Steps?

3. After being shot, the professor screams out, “It was supposed to be a—cast of—FOUR!!!” Is it practical for one woman to play all of the major female roles and the two men to play all other parts besides Hannay? Does this device work well given how frequently Hannay must confront a case of mistaken identity? Besides the potential for great comedy, what themes does manipulating unsuspecting characters through the artifice of disguise reveal?

5. In an analysis of the production context of The 39 Steps, a comparison is made between the novel and Hitchcock’s movie. “Any of the novel’s most identifiable qualities — suspense, thrills, speed, the chase — can easily be identified as ‘Hitchcockian’. Perhaps, the most immediately striking influence is the story-line known as the ‘double pursuit.’” What is double pursuit? Ask students to give examples of this influence in other works of entertainment.

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FOUR-DAY LESSON PLAN introduces students to the production and then, after viewing the performance, asks them to think more critically about what they have seen. Includes time for class discussion and individual assessment.

DAY ONE - Introducing the Play Same as Day One above; completed before seeing the production.

DAY TWO - The Production Attend the performance at the Huntington Theatre Company.

Homework: Students should answer the Mastery Assessment (P. 14) questions.

DAY THREE - Follow-up Discussion Discuss Mastery Assessment answers in class.

DAY FOUR - Test Individual Assessment: Choose either several questions from the Open Response (P. 13) or one question from Writing Assignments (P. 13) for students to answer in one class period.

Optional: Students may choose one of the For Further Exploration (P. 17) or Media Assessment (P. 15) tasks to complete for extra credit.

SEVEN-DAY LESSON PLAN completely integrates The 39 Steps into your schedule. Within seven school days, you can introduce the play, assign reading and vocabulary, and assess your students on both a group and individual level. Students will ideally view the play after completing Mastery Assessment questions.

DAY ONE - Introducing the play Same as Day One above.

Optional: Distribute Vocabulary Handout due on Day Four.

Homework: Read Act One and answer corresponding Mastery Assessment (P. 14) questions.

DAY TWO - Act One Discuss Act One and answers to Mastery Assessment questions.

Homework: Read Act Two and answer corresponding Mastery Assessment questions.

DAY THREE - Act Two Discuss Act Two and answers to Mastery Assessment questions.

Optional: Complete Vocabulary Handout out for homework.

Homework: Read Act Three and answer corresponding Mastery Assessment questions.

DAY FOUR - Group Work Complete the Stage Combat assignment from the Media Assessment (P. 15). Leave time for performance and class evaluations..

Optional: Review Vocabulary Handout.

DAY FIVE - Attend Performance Optional: Students may choose to complete one of the For Further Exploration (P. 17) for extra credit.

DAY SIX - Review/Preparation Students should answer the Open Response (P. 13) questions as preparation for their test the following day.

DAY SEVEN - Test Individual Assessment: Choose two questions from the Writing Assignments (P. 13) for students to answer in one class period.

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Name:_______________________________________________________

Handout 1

VOCABULARY baubles

liverish

constituency

loathsome

coy

manacled

crofter

nonchalant

desolate

nostalgic

doddery

ominous

ethereal

pusillanimous

garrulous

seethe

gesticulate

segue

gluttonous

strychnine

grindstone

supernumerary

impertinent

tawdry

inhospitable

vaudeville

itinerant

Date:_____________________

Name:_______________________________________________________

Date:_____________________

Handout 2

ADAPTATION WORKSHEET The Thirty-Nine Steps, a spy novel written by John Buchan in 1915, proved to be a versatile work. It was adapted into several movie versions (the first directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1935), produced by Lux Radio Theatre in 1937, and is now being presented by the Huntington Theatre Company as a play, following a successful run in London during 2006. The Thirty-Nine Steps continues to transform after being written almost a century ago!

What makes The Thirty-Nine Steps a concept that is suitable for theatre, film, radio and novel form? List at least three characteristics of this story that make it highly adaptable: 1. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Considering your ideas from above, select a story that you would like to see presented in a different way. Do you have a favorite novel that you wish you could see on the big screen, or a television sitcom that would be just as funny to listen to in your car?

Describe the idea or concept:_______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ In what media form will your adaptation take shape?___________________________________________________________ Do you have any special concerns or considerations in altering its form? ___________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ What challenges do you foresee in producing your work in this new way?__________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ When presenting your new work, it is important to distinguish how it is related to the original story by saying it is either based on or loosely based on that work. It is important not to disappoint your audience if you take creative license with the plot, characters or the sequence of events. While it may be necessary to cut from or add to the original work, you should prepare your audience for such changes.

TIME TO GET STARTED – GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR ADAPTATION! Writing Your Own Plays by Carol Korty (Players Press, 1986) was used as a resource in developing this worksheet.