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- On June 29, 2024
The award-winning comedy The 39 Steps is returning to the West End this Summer! Here’s everything you need to know about the comedy play.
The 39 Steps is a parody play, adapted from the 1915 novel by John Buchan and the 1935 film by Alfred Hitchcock. The original concept and stage production premiered in 1996 and was written by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon. This four-actor version of the story sees the entirety of the original film performed by a cast of only four. One actor plays the hero, one actor plays the three women he is romantically involved with and two actors play every other character in the show. Between the four actors, they take on a ridiculous number of 139 roles.
The first version of the play was seen before an audience of 90 people at the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond, North Yorkshire before touring village halls across the north of England. Then in 2005, the script was re-written by Patrick Barlow and this re-adaptation premiered at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in June 2005. The play then went on to premiere in London at the Tricycle Theatre in August 2006 titled John Buchan’s The 39 Steps.
The production then transferred to the Criterion Theatre in London’s West End in September 2006. The 39 Steps played at this theatre until 5 September 2015 after a 9-year run in the West End, making it the fifth longest-running play in West End history. The play went on to win the 2007 Olivier and WhatsOnStage Awards for Best Comedy and then went on to win two Tony Awards the following year on Broadway.
The 39 Steps is currently on tour until 3 August and then the production is set to transfer to the West End this August. The cast for the West End run will remain the same as the touring cast. The cast will include Tom Byrne as Richard Hannay, Safeena Ladha as Annabella Schmidt / Pamela / Margaret, Eugene McCoy as Clown 1, and Maddie Rice as Clown 2 (the first time this production has cast a female-identifying actor as one of the Clowns), with Jacob Daniels and Hannah Parker as the understudies.
The 39 Steps opens at the Trafalgar Theatre on 16 August 2024 and will play until 28 September 2024. The 39 Steps tickets are on sale now.
