A Step in Time

Coral Drouyn chatted to old friend Lisa McCune ahead of the new production of The 39 Steps, in which she plays diverse characters with a mix of Scottish and German accents.

Lisa McCune was not born when Alfred Hitchcock made his World War I spy thriller The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935), adapted from John Buchan’s 1915 novel. It’s likely that her parents weren’t born either. And yet, in the odd way that art and entertainment are often stranger than fiction, one of our most loved actresses and the old potboiler are crossing paths in a new production of this much-loved audience pleaser.

Hitchcock’s film is 90 years old this year and, to be honest, it is unintentionally funny even in its original film form, and a complete melodrama in Buchan’s novel (now 110 years old). Yet it took two young playwrights, Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon, to see the funny side and launch a comic production of the film on stage in 1996, using only four actors and a stylised set, playing to small audiences in village halls.

It might have died a quiet death (totally unsuitable for the heightened drama) had playwright Patrick Barlow not discovered the script, realized the comic potential, completely rewrote the play and launched it in 2005. 

This hilarious parody was a smash hit, running for nine years in London’s West End, where it won the Olivier and What's On Stage awards for Best Comedy. It played for 771 performances on Broadway, winning two Tony awards and a Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience in 2008, the same year as its first Australian tour.

Though it only runs 100 minutes (that’s probably as much laughter as is healthy), there are 130 characters (though obviously never more than four on stage at a time) to tell the convoluted and highly improbable story of a man on the run, accused of murder, encountering femmes fatale and villainous spies of all shapes and sizes.

Richard Hannay, the man on the run, is none other than (perhaps) our favourite leading man Ian Stenlake, whose charisma and stage presence enhance any production. 

All of the other male (and some of the female) roles are being played by the amazingly funny and manic Umbilical Brothers, comic geniuses in their own right. No doubt they will make a degustation banquet out of every line and devour every piece of comic business; all the while being straight faced. Then there is Lisa McCune, perfect casting for the three female leads. She is an actress who can truly play any genre and is genuinely excited by this next challenge.

“I love comedy, and I am really thrilled with this new venture,” she tells me. “Even though I have seen the film, I have never seen the play onstage, but reading the script, I was chuckling away and seeing how hysterical this will be. And Ian is just made for the role of Richard Hannay.”

Of course, Lisa and Ian worked together on screen in TV’s Sea Patrol, and on stage, most notably in Cabaret.

“This will actually be our fourth time working together,” she explains, “and it’s a marvelous thing when you work on different productions with the same actors - you develop a kind of shorthand with each other - you can actually anticipate their reactions. It saves so much time in rehearsals when you know the person and their work well.”

Lisa has been anxious to work with director Damien Ryan for some time, but this the first chance she’s had.

“This has been a relatively short lead in; sometimes you have to plan and schedule a year or so ahead. But this was only offered to me three months ago,” Lisa explains. 

“And when I heard that Damien was directing, I was really excited. Everyone in the business knows of the remarkable work he has done as Creative Director of Sport For Jove. All my actor friends were telling me, ‘You simply have to work with Damien, he’s brilliant and you two have the same views on commitment ’ … and so I hoped that our paths would cross, but I wasn’t that optimistic. But though it doesn’t happen often, all the stars aligned and here we are, and I honestly can’t wait for rehearsals.”

And there’s the added bonus of The Umbilical Brothers playing all the other roles.

“Well, they are comedy royalty really, so funny and so original,” Lisa enthuses. “But they are also, individually, terrific actors in their own right. David (Collins) and Shane (Dundas) have played all over the world and won just about every award for comedy that there is, and most people aren’t even aware of how often they have heard their voiceover work. I can’t think of a better combination to play the two ‘Clowns’, and of course they too have their own shorthand from so many years of being on stage together. As for me, I am working on my German and Scottish accents and hoping I don’t mix them up. Three roles are more than enough for me to concentrate on.”

Lisa is one of those rare performers who is a TV star by any definition but equally well known for her work on stage in a slew of musicals. Which, I ask, does she prefer?

“I can’t make a choice,” she says. “You know that I trained for theatre, and that was where I thought my career was going to be. And when I left WAAPA my first couple of shows were on stage - bit parts really. And then I got a commercial for Woolies and all of a sudden my face was all over the ‘box’. (TV producer) Hal McElroy saw me and that led to me being cast as Maggie Doyle in Blue Heelers. You of all people know how iconic she was as a character.” 

I do indeed – it was my killing of the character (as story producer for the show) when Lisa decided she wanted to leave, that led to us not speaking for some years, though Lisa does concede now that it was the right end for the show to continue without her. 

“I was young. I wasn’t even sure what I was capable of, but I knew I had to try. I wasn’t sick of playing Maggie, but I was wondering how far I could stretch myself,” she explains. 

“I honestly can’t say how my career would have developed or whether I would ever have had the chance to do half the things I’ve done without that role. I was 23 years old and a household name. I hadn’t ever considered that, and I honestly don’t know if I could have handled it differently. But the truth is no-one would have been offering me the lead in major stage productions had I not already made a name in television. I’m eternally grateful to Hal McElroy for giving me that chance and he really is responsible for the career I’ve had, right down to the chance to do The 39 Steps.”

I could argue that it’s Lisa’s talent that made her realise her full potential and given her a stunning body of work. I do know that she has never tried to use her television fame for leverage, but I wonder if she sometimes resents being so closely associated with a show in which she died 25 years ago, when it was just one part of an astonishing career. So, I have to ask the inevitable question.

“Oh, my Lord!” she answers. “Is it really that long? There may have been moments when I got fed up with being asked about Maggie’s death, but resent the show and Maggie? No never. How can one resent being known for their work. It’s an honour that people still remember, and doubly so that they still love your work. Maggie was very special.”

And so is Lisa, as she will prove yet again in The 39 Steps.

Photographer: Cameron Grant

Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House: 8 - 30 August 

Civic Theatre, Newcastle: 2 - 6 September 

Comedy Theatre, Melbourne: 10 - 28 September 

Playhouse, QPAC, Brisbane: 7 - 19 October

www.the39steps.com.au