Following one of the toughest auditions in theatre, Tony Bell became a busy Man in The 39 Steps. He talks to Steve Pratt about switching from Shakespeare to a comedy version of John Buchan’s novel

TONY BELL is a busy man. He plays a compere in the touring version of The 39 Steps. And a milkman. And a salesman.

And a pipe band. And Professor Jordan.

And... well, you get the idea.

With a cast of four playing 139 characters in 100 minutes, there’s never a dull moment on stage, or backstage for that matter.

Richard Ede plays just one person, chisel-jawed hero Richard Hannay, and Charlotte Peters has a mere three different females to impersonate. Which leaves Bell and Gary MacKay to play the rest – including a bog and a stream.

The tour brings him back to Newcastle Theatre Royal, where he’s been seen staging Shakespeare, with the all-male Propeller theatre company, over the past four years. He wanted a change from touring with that group and Patrick Barlow’s adaptation of the John Buchan classic book and Alfred Hitchcock’s film is certainly providing that.

“I’ve done stand-up comedy and revue shows, and I think The 39 Steps is quite similiar to that. With Propeller, I’ve done roles like Bottom and Feste. I’m always being asked to be quite lunatic. I have a more eccentric way of doing things. I can do whatever you ask, but don’t train me to do it, just let me do it.”

He was familiar with the show and the two roles billed as Man 1 and Man 2.

“My friends have all done the show. I know the guy who was the original Man 1 and he did two years in the West End. I asked him for some tips, but I think I got it because I do a lot of clown characters in Propeller,” he says. “Traditionally, Man 1 is little and Man 2 is big, although they’ve gone to both being big in the current West End production.

The casting director tells you which Man you have to go for.”

The audition was unlike other casting calls. First, they tested his skill at accents by asking him to do a cockney market stallholder, a German spy and a Scottish police inspector. A week later, he was asked back to do them all again. Then the casting director said he was going to clap his hands, call out types of characters and expect Bell to do them.

He was asked to be a child and an ice cream salesman.

“It was a really tough audition,” he says. “I was doing a TV job the week before and only had about five scenes in seven days of filming, so I had time to practise for the audition.”

He’s seen the show quite a lot when friends were in the cast. “One guy from Propeller was in it. I know the guy doing Man 2. He’s 6ft 4in and really big,” says Bell.

“The show is quite hectic because when you run from the stage you generally have to change into another costume. There are three or four people helping us. It’s not as long as some other plays – it’s only one-and-a-half hours – but like a 400 metre race.”

He has some favourites among his characters. “I like the German spy guy. He goes quietly mad. I like the burbling Scotsman. I can up the burble factor if I like,” he says.

But the quick and constant changes of character and costumes mean hiccups are inevitable. “I do find it funny and try to keep it fresh, but sometimes I forget a line or two. I forgot the whole bit of one character when he introduces himself and called him something like a defective meat superintendent.

“And I kicked Gary’s wig. I put it down next to him and in my jollity I kicked it away and he couldn’t find it.

“The show is always different because of the audience laughter. There are three places in the first speech and if they laugh we know we are going to have a good night.”

He feels the production works well when the stage is small and the theatre itself isn’t too big.

Having the audience closer to the action generates laughter. “The fuller the audience, the bigger the fun,” he says.

  • The 39 Steps: Newcastle Theatre Royal, May 7- 11. Box Office: 08448-112121 and theatreroyal.co.uk