"The 39 Steps' in Wilmington

You might assume that fans of Alfred Hitchcock would be the target audience for The 39 Steps, whose national touring company recently played Wilmington's DuPont Theatre. Such a play would seem to hold special appeal for those film buffs who fell in love with the original The 39 Steps and other British Hitchcock films from the 1930s. You would be wrong.

This play, by the British comedy writer Patrick Barlow, is an entertaining spoof of the Hitchcock genre, applying a tone that's at odds with the master. Hitchcock used subtle wit to render his protagonists endearing and to create momentary relief from the tension of his scary stories. The play, on the other hand, is billed as a "comedy thriller" and is heavy with almost slapstick humor, while the plot isn't taken seriously.

The good news is that the four talented actors in the cast assume multiple roles with impeccable timing. Claire Brownell, Ted Deasy, Eric Hissom and Scott Parkinson comprise the entire cast. None of them suggests the vulnerability of Hitchcock's film characters, but they do present themselves assertively with great panache.

We couldn't care about their improbable adventures, but we surely appreciated the style and execution. The set is fun, too, as it changes with breathtaking speed from foggy Scottish moors to a train compartment to a police station. The whole enterprise is a series of clever stunts.