The 39 Steps

Comedy

Nothing has been cut from this hilarious and spectacular version of Britain's most spell-binding thriller - the legendary scenes include the chase on the Flying Scotsman, the escape on the Forth Bridge, the first theatrical bi-plane crash ever staged and the death defying (or nearly) finale at the London Palladium!

Director Jane Rivers
Cast Howard Tampling, Rachel Fentiman, Joy Marshall, Simon Denver, and Harry Bayliss

The 39 Steps is a melodrama adapted from the 1915 novel by John Buchan and the 1935 film by Alfred Hitchcock.  The original concept and production of a five-actor version of the story was by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon. Patrick Barlow rewrote this adaptation in 2005.

The play's concept calls for the entirety of the 1935 adventure film The 39 Steps to be performed with a cast of only five.  One actor plays the hero, Richard Hannay, an actress plays the three women with whom he has romantic entanglements, and three other actors play every other character in the show: heroes, villains, men, women, children and even the occasional inanimate object.  This often requires lightning fast quick-changes and occasionally for them to play multiple characters at once.  Thus the film's serious spy story is played mainly for laughs, and the script is full of allusions to (and puns on the titles of) other Alfred Hitchcock films, including Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, Psycho, Vertigo, and North by Northwest.

The 39 Steps
Cut-price preview: SEPTEMBER 8, all tickets $22
Evenings: SEPTEMBER 9, 15, 16 at 7:30pm
Matinees: SEPTEMBER 10, 11, 17 at 2pm
ZONTA Charity Performance: SEPTEMBER 14 at 7:30pm all tickets $40, includes a light supper at interval

TICKETS
Adults $31 | Concessions $27 | Member/Group $25 | U17 $22