The 39 Steps

WONDERFUL play! I performed it with my high school theater kids and we had a wonderful time. Very high energy, full of dry humor, and lots of opportunities for characters to shine. Only consider doing this show if you have a male lead who can handle memorizing a TON of lines though. It is a wordy, but quick-spoken play.

Hitchcock's original adaptation of the early 20th Century spy novel is the inspiration for this very funny spoof as performed by only four actors.

The book was great but would have been better if about six people did not act over 60 characters! Was not an easy read either but okay

A story tellers play. Involves imagination, movement.

A fantastic, incredibly theatrical and hilarious take on a Spy movie classic. If you enjoy shows such as the Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged), you will love this play.

A very nice version of the film, which was based on the novel, adapted for the theatre. An excellent piece with great comedy moments and suitable for an audience of any age.

Although the overall plot of THE 39 STEPS is based upon and pretty much follows the 1915 John Buchan novel and the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name, the play THE 39 STEPS is really a completely different piece of art. That's because the original novel and Hitchcock's movie are cloak and dagger adventure stories, but the play is written and adapted as a comedy. The show only has four actors. One actor plays the protagonist, Richard Hannay. An actress plays the three different woman/love interests that Hannay meets on his journey. Finally, two other actors or actresses play all the other roles in the show: heroes, villains, men, women, children, inanimate objects, cops, crooks, etc. The show also contains all kinds of allusions and references to other Alfred Hitchcock movies, e.g. STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, ROPE, REAR WINDOW, PSYCHO, VERTIGO, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, etc.Plot wise, THE 39 STEPS follows the adventures of Richard Hannay. Hannay goes to a theatre to see a performance of intelligence by a man called Mr. Memory when some shots ring out in the theatre. Hannay finds a young woman in his arms who convinces him to take her to his apartment. There she tells him a story of conspiracies and spies and secret organizations and an evil mastermind who's missing part of his finger. At first Hannay doesn't believe her, but later that night the woman is killed in Hannay's apartment and Hannay becomes the chief suspect in her murder. He makes his escape across the countryside in an attempt to discover the secret that the young lady was attempting to uncover.THE 39 STEPS isn't a difficult play to read, especially for those who have read lots of plays before. However, someone who hasn't read many plays or who doesn't have any knowledge about the original novel or Hitchcock's movie might have some difficulty following exactly what's going on. Overall, a very funny four-person show.

Eh, I guess it goes to show that reading a play just isn't the same as watching it. I bought this because an acquaintance was interested in having me try out for the show (he was directing it for a community theater). I've heard good things about it and if you like surreal comedy than I think this would work well for you. Personally I just didn't quite get it. Then again, I rarely get comedic plays when I read them the first time. I imagine seeing it live, or practicing it with a Director who knows what he/she is doing, would change my mind but as reading material I couldn't get into it.

Set text which we had to purchase as it was part of the exam syllabus

A stage version so well written for four actors that even done badly it would always be a great success.

How different from the films! Still a good yarn.

Super fast shipping (1 day from UK to Greece) and amazing book. Thanks!

Thank you.