CCTV9英语新闻：'The 39 steps' wraps with good reviews

Four actors in Shanghai are taking on the roles of a hundred characters in the spy thriller, 'The 39 Steps'. It's the latest stage play mounted by Shanghai-based English theater company, Urban Aphrodite, as they maintain a prolific output of seven productions a year. All four shows enjoyed a full house at the weekend.

"The 39 Steps" is a stage adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 film of the same name. Regular guy Richard Hanna meets a mysterious spy Annabella Schmidt in a theater in London. After Schmidt is killed in Hanna's apartment, he is accused of murder and goes on the run to prove his innocence.

This is one of the play's most powerful scenes. Hanna, played by Brian Wang, is taking a train to Scotland when he finds himself on the front page of a newspaper as Schmidt's alleged murderer. The cast of four take on various roles such as train passengers, a paperboy, police officers, platform staff, and guards.

"We have been practicing for two-and-a-half months, so we've had a lot of time to build the characters together and give them their different physical movements and the accents, which is a lot of work," said actor Mike Griffin. 

"The hats are big things as well, changing hats. If nothing else, the hats change. So that's the sort of minimum change and then everything else has to change. We have to remember a new voice, new movements," said actor John Harper. 

"The 39 Steps" has also been staged for years on the West End and Broadway, and a Chinese drama company presented a Mandarin version in town a month ago. Though with a smaller stage and budget, the director of Urban Aphrodite's version said his work involved more interaction among actors.

"With the small stage, we get the opportunity to have very creative props and scenery. And we work with very minimal amounts of things so that the audience can bring their imagination and be very active in how the show is created in their mind," said director Danny Wall. 

Spectators said the show was a good option for a weekend night out. 

"It's something to maybe laugh and relax and take your mind off work as well. But if the show finishes earlier, there's still time for other events as well. So it doesn't have to take up your whole night, but it's something nice to experience I think," said spectator Brandon Burtts. 

"I'm a drama fan. I think this theater presents a different style from Chinese productions. Chinese plays are sometimes hard to understand or too official. This show is kind of experimental, like off-Broadway productions. I really liked it," said spectator Diana Dai.

Launched in 2013, Urban Aphrodite has produced around 30 English stage shows, from classic plays by Shakespeare to modern comedies. Ticket prices for their productions are a bit more than 200 yuan, which is comparable to mainstream Chinese theater works. The founder sees a growing market for English theaters in the city and says ticket sales can now cover all their production costs.

"I found it interesting when we first started three years ago, there were no local Chinese in our audience. And now it's about 30% of every audience are local Chinese, which is great," said Ann James, founder of Urban Aphrodite.

Urban Aphrodite will stage at least 7 plays this year. Their next play will come in two weeks with an adaptation of the 1980's film 'The Princess Bride'. James said she is also looking for a bigger stage for their productions.