Dates: August 28 – September 7
Style: Mystery Play
Run Time: 2.5 Hours – including one intermission)
Ages: 12 and up
There is no official rating system for live theatre. We invite you to use your own judgment.
Adapted by Patrick Barlow
From the novel by John Buchan
From the movie by Alfred Hitchcock
Licensed by ITV Global Entertainment Limited
And an Original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon Directed by Kimberly Senior
Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have The 39 Steps, a fast-paced whodunit for anyone who loves the magic of theatre! This two-time Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning treat is packed with nonstop laughs, over 150 zany characters (played by a ridiculously talented cast of four), an onstage plane crash, handcuffs, missing fingers, and some good old-fashioned romance!
In The 39 Steps, a man with a dull life meets a woman with a thick accent who claims she’s a spy. When he takes her home, she is murdered. Soon, a mysterious organization called “The 39 Steps” is hot on the man’s trail in a nationwide manhunt that climaxes in a death-defying finale!
A riotous blend of virtuoso performances and wildly inventive stagecraft, The 39 Steps amounts to an unforgettable production of pure pleasure!
The original London production directed by Marcia Aitken designed by Peter McKintosh lighting designed by Ian Scott sound designed by Mic Pool and movement directed by Toby Sedgwick opened at the Tricycle Theatre (now known as Kiln Theatre) in Kilburn in August 2006 and transferred to the Criterion Theatre in the West End on 14th September 2006 and subsequently to the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway on 15 January 2008. The original production was directed by Fiona Buffini. This production is licensed and the film is distributed by ITV Global Entertainment Ltd.
The 39 Steps is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.
www.concordtheatricals.com
Besides his version of Lew Wallace’s Ben Hur, Patrick Barlow’s Olivier-nominated adaptation of A Christmas Carol has played off-Broadway and London’s West End while his 4-person adaptation of The 39 Steps has played in over forty countries worldwide, winning Olivier, Helpmann, Moliere and Tony Awards and making Patrick the most performed playwright in America for 2012/13. Most recently, his rewriting of John Milton’s Comus has played to critical acclaim at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
Patrick is also celebrated in the UK for his two-man theatre company National Theatre of Brent, whose comedy epics include Wagner’s Ring Cycle, The Charles and Diana Story, The Messiah, The Wonder of Sex, The Arts and How They Was Done, The Black Hole of Calcutta, The Life and Times of the Dalai Lama and Zulu! They have won two Sony Gold Awards, a Premier Ondas Award for Best European Comedy and the New York Festival Gold Award for Best Comedy.
Other screenwriting includes Van Gogh (Prix Futura Berlin Film Festival), Revolution!! (Best Comedy Jerusalem Film Festival) and the BAFTA-winning The Young Visiters. Publications include Shakespeare: The Truth! and The Complete History of the Whole World. Patrick has also appeared in Absolutely Fabulous, Shakespeare in Love, Notting Hill, Nanny McPhee and Bridget Jones’s Diary. He is currently writing theatre versions of The Hound of the Baskervilles and Dracula.
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