“The 39 Steps”
“The Maltese Falcon”
“Best Actor”
“Best Sound Design”
“Best Original Play”
“Best Producers”
David 'Oz' Oswald, Rebecca Burroughs, JD Lepeta and Keith Moser in "The 39 Steps."
Myra Yellin Outwater, The Morning Call :
‘The Crowded Kitchen Players’ production of the mystery thriller “The 39 Steps ” was a fast-paced, acrobatic, topsy turvy spy yarn in which the agile cast romped through British music halls, traveled by train through the Scottish Highlands and raced through foggy, sheep-clogged Scottish back roads, spooky country inns and political rallies.
Keith Moser as the hero Richard Hannay was a master of farce, with an innate comedic sense and a wonderfully expressive face. Dave Oswald and J. D. Lepeta were a dynamo duo. They not only understand and delight in physical theater, but know how to play a crowd and brazenly milk a good gag for all its worth.’
Paul Willistein’s “The ABE Awards” – Bethlehem Press:
Best Actor, Play: David ‘Oz’ Oswald (Sam Spade) “The Maltese Falcon”. “Oswald owned the show, commanding the stage with a mix of relaxed authority, cunning insight and twinkling bemusement.”
Best Original Play: “The Down of A Thistle,” written & directed by Ara Barlieb. “The comedic whodunit packed a surprise one-two punch with a very cleaver plot twist in Act Two.”
Best Sound Design: “The 39 Steps,” – Ara Barlieb. “Barlieb’s Hitchcockian touch included sampling the scores of “North by Northwest,” “Dial M for Murder” and “Vertigo.”
Best Producers: Ara Barlieb, Pamela McLean – Wallace, Crowded Kitchen Players. “Barlieb and Wallace always try to top themselves in sleuthing a selection of eclectic and eccentric fare: “Brendan,” an Irish comedy-drama; Alfred Hitchcocks’s ‘The 39 Steps’, a Valley debut; “The Maltese Falcon,” the East Coast premiere; and “The Down of A Thistle,” a Barlieb original.”