39 steps

Brought to the public’s attention recently by the BBC adaptation, and renewed interest in the work of Hitchcock, who made a memorable film of this John Buchanan book, 39 Steps is legendary. But perhaps the stage is where this thrilling whodunit was always destined to end up. The book had always been considered to be unstageable, but here is tangible proof that the doubters were wrong.

Showing at the Criterion Theatre, in Piccadilly Circus in London, Maria Aitken’s direction of Patrick Barlow’s adaptation has been winning critical acclaim. The production brings out what many recent interpretations of the book have missed: much of the comedy which the story contains. The production has also set itself a seemingly alarming task of a minimum of 150 roles being taken on by just four cast members; plus every famous scene which is ingrained in the national imagination from the 1930’s Hitchcock film is also replicated. The play claims the first ever theatrical bi-plane crash and also shows the chase on the Flying Scotsman! Surely that’s got to be worth the entry price alone.

As previously mentioned, the critics have been loving this particular production; the show winning the coveted Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in 2007. Indeed it is Hitchcock’s film, rather than the original novel, which is being deemed by critics to be the biggest influence on the play. The Observer commented that the show, with its “mix of the commercial and the experimental... could be exactly what the West End has been waiting for”. Other critics have deemed the production “witty and dazzling” (The Sunday Times) and “joyful” (The Sunday Telegraph) however, the Mail on Sunday has pondered whether “ the whole yarn is reduced to burlesque” and whether the production “misses the full impact of the exuberant theatricality”.

A man being wrongly accused of someone’s murder and then running for his life as the plot thickens may not seem like a play which can be really played for laughs but, somehow, this play pulls it off. Go along and solve one of Hitchcock’s most enduring Macguffins (that being Hitchcock’s own word for something which the plot hinges around) what exactly are the 39 steps? You’ll have to pay your money and come and watch to find out. Speaking of paying, ticket prices for 39 Steps range from £45 to £12.50 with performances 6 days a week and matinees on Tuesdays.