Mix Alfred Hitchcock’s classic spy thriller with a dash of Monty Python-style chaos, and you get The 39 Steps, a turbo-charged, Olivier and Tony Award-winning comedy smash. After thrilling more than three million fans across 39 countries, from London’s West End to Broadway, this international sensation, adapted by Patrick Barlow from the novel by John Buchan, is reimagined and coming to Australia.
Directed by acclaimed theatre-maker Damien Ryan and starring four of Australia’s most beloved talents – Lisa McCune (Blue Heelers, Sea Patrol, The King and I), Ian Stenlake (Sea Patrol, Stingers) and The Umbilical Brothers (David Collins and Shane Dundas) – The 39 Steps is ready to make its way across Australia in an unmissable national tour this year.
Join the suave but unsuspecting Richard Hannay as he finds himself framed for murder and tangled in a web of spies, secrets and seductive strangers. To clear his name, he must outrun the law, outwit international agents and survive a string of increasingly absurd adventures.
In just 100 minutes of non-stop action, four fearless actors play 130 roles in a dazzling display of quick changes, inventive stagecraft and high-energy hilarity.
“We have always loved the stage adaptation of The 39 Steps and feel like the time is right for Australia to have a new production of this inventive, laugh-out-loud tour de force for four actors. We are very excited to have assembled such an amazing cast to bring this show to life,” said producers Neil Gooding and Alex Woodward.
“The 39 Steps is funny, suspenseful, celebrates everything theatre can do, is a beautiful piece for actors and lovers of storytelling and after so many years, it still just explodes in the imagination,” said director Damien Ryan. “It’s one of the world’s first and most exciting spy thrillers and I think it reaches us so powerfully because the spy is one of us. It’s not about a titanium-built ex-soldier coolly dismantling a global threat. It’s about a listless, restless everyman who gets framed into an adventure that sees him have to escape his humble London apartment and go on an iconic journey, both through the big bad world and within himself, finding love and courage and above all standing up against the surveillance state, political intrigue and a national betrayal. It’s a sharp and dangerous noir mystery, it’s a joyous comedy and it’s a deep romance. And it all happens simply because he went to the theatre one night!”
The 39 Steps will open at the Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House from 8 August, then travel to Newcastle’s Civic Theatre from 2 September, Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre from 10 September, and the Playhouse, QPAC in Brisbane from 7 October.
Book now for The 39 Steps, a gripping fast-paced comedy thriller that can go away you breathless with laughter.
