Umbilical Unclassified: Spies, Slapstick, and THE 39 STEPS
Australia’s most beloved comedic duo, The Umbilical Brothers, are taking a sharp left turn from their usual zany antics, and stepping straight into a whirlwind of espionage, quick changes, and classic Hitchcockian intrigue.
Known for their explosive physical comedy, vocal wizardry, and wildly imaginative storytelling, David Collins and Shane Dundas have built an international reputation as masters of controlled chaos. Over the past three decades, they’ve taken their unique blend of mime, slapstick, and razor-sharp timing to sold-out theatres across the globe. Renowned for transforming empty space into entire worlds using nothing but their bodies, voices, and boundless imagination, they’ve captivated audiences from childhood fans of their hit series The Upside Down Show to seasoned comedy aficionados. Now, the duo are bringing that signature energy to The 39 Steps — a fast-paced theatrical romp that reimagines Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic 1935 thriller as a riotous stage comedy.
The plot follows the unassuming Richard Hannay, an ordinary man thrust into an extraordinary situation when a mysterious woman is murdered in his London flat. Framed for the crime, Hannay is forced to go on the run, hurtling across the countryside in a desperate bid to clear his name, expose a deadly conspiracy, and stop a shadowy ring of spies known only as “The 39 Steps.”
What makes this production truly special is its ingenious theatricality. Adapted by Patrick Barlow in 2005, the play is performed by just four actors: one as Hannay (in this case, Ian Stenlake), one as the women he encounters (Lisa McCune), and two “clowns” who take on every other role — often switching characters in the blink of an eye. It’s a fast-paced, physical, and deliberately absurd approach to storytelling — and one that couldn’t be more perfectly suited to The Umbilical Brothers.
Were you familiar with the material before starting rehearsals?
Shane: I had actually read the book in school. It was one of those assigned books, so it was vaguely in the back of my head. It was an exciting book; a thriller that set the tone for so many thrillers afterwards. I hadn’t seen the film until recently, I watched it and realised how closely the play is taken from the film.
David: I have not read the novel. I got halfway through the movie — I need to watch the second half — but there’s a lot of the movie in the play. A lot of lines have just been lifted from the play. As it stands now, [the play is] a spoof on Hitchcock films, pretty much. If you know any Hitchcock films, then you will get what this play is trying to do.
What about the idea of playing over 100 characters got you on board?
Shane: I’m still racking my brain around that [chuckles]. Actually, you could argue that this is very suited to us because we can change physicality and voices pretty quickly. But you’re memorising dialogue at various degrees for many different characters. And for me, that’s a challenge because my brain is having to lock into different people each time. It’s not just memorising one character’s dialogue. That’s my big challenge. That’s the freak out for me.
David: Well, we are physical performers. We are physical actors. And to embody so many characters just only vocally is very, very challenging for me. The Scottish accent is… I am massacring the Scottish accent [laughs]. It’s painful at the moment, but I hope the audience will give us a little bit of leeway because we’re doing so many different characters and voices and accents. We’ve been saying our own lines for 33 years, so it’s really pleasant doing somebody else’s lines.
As the Umbilical Brothers, you’re known for blending precision, physicality, and comedy — how have those skills shaped the way you approach The 39 Steps?
Shane: That’s the challenge of the play itself. It’s serious, but it’s also extremely silly, just because of the very notion of playing so many characters and the desperation of having to get into position for all these different characters. That’s an element of the comedy. So the challenge for us, and as Damian [the director] has pointed out, is to balance the craziness with the story, the serious story that’s underneath and the relationship with the two leads. You know, we can impinge on that, but we can’t just override it with the madness. That’s our challenge, but it’s still a lot of fun. There’s that extra step doesn’t have to be taken in the relationship between us. We already understand each other. We appreciate each other’s strengths and we know each other’s weaknesses so we can help each other out that way. Which is always a lovely thing; it’s always been an intuitive relationship between us. It’s always been creativity within limitation.
David: Yeah, it is a play. But it don’t forget, it’s a movie on a stage. And so within that there’s a car chase, there’s a train chase, there’s a plane chase, which is planes, trains, and automobiles. There’s all of those things on the stage. And there’s only one way to show to the audience that that is what’s happening, and that’s extremely physical.
How does performing The 39 Steps differ from creating and performing your own material — and what do you find most exciting about it?
Shane: We trained as actors, that’s where we met. But the core of our careers has been our own material. And you can you can go off the dialogue because you know where you’re going — the shows are always elastic, even though they have very specific incidents and gags throughout. [The 39 Steps] is someone else’s work. You’re doing a play and that is scary for me. I think David’s done more separate acting from us than I have, so he’s possibly more comfortable, he’s a theatre child. He’s loved the theatre since since childhood, he’s always wanted to be an actor. And I love movies — I wanted to be a film director. So this is a combination of that, our worlds fusing together.
David: I’m quite excited about it. I just love theatre. I mean, theatre is the last bastion of attention. I went to the theatre the other day and I was thinking “this doesn’t happen anymore.” Theatre is the last place where people are watching, completely concentrated, on this thing that’s been created in front of them. You’re sitting in your seat and you are watching this… creation, this thing. Somebody has spent weeks making those costumes, weeks designing those lights… designing the sound. And I haven’t even got to what the actors and the director have had done to create what’s on the stage. You are 100% engaged with what is going on, and there’s nothing left like that in the world.
What can fans of The Umbilical Brothers expect from this production?
Shane: It’s really us playing in someone else’s playground. We’ll still be in it and we’ll still be ridiculous. And I think people will enjoy how we’re applying ourselves to something else. They’ll still see us and our sensibility, but it’s in another playground. I hope they come and see it. Who knows? Maybe they’ll stay away in droves [laughs]. One of the joys is bringing people into the theatre who don’t necessarily go to the theatre, but they know us from the old kids TV series, The Upside Down Show. And there’s this entire 20 to 30 something generation that grew up on that show. They’ll come from that direction, and it’ll be great to get more people into the theatre however we can.
David: They’ll see us do something completely different, but in a way it’s in the same direction. I don’t think we’re making any sound effects. There’s only two of our shows where we play different characters, but nowhere near as many as this.
Can you sum up the show in three words?
Shane: Life. Death. Silly.
David: The only words I can think of are sexy insanity. Two words, the third is yet to come. There is something in it for everyone — you’ve got those two sex on legs [Ian and Lisa], and then you’ve got these two bloody idiots, Shane and me.
The 39 Steps is playing now at The Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House.
For tickets and more information, visit the39steps.com.au
Header photo by Cameron Grant, Parenthesy
