The 39 Steps
An hilarious comedy, made to look so easy. Pleasure and laughter all of the way.
Norwich Theatre
Initially a novel by Scottish author John Buchan, inspired by events in Europe in the early 20th century and later, perhaps more famously, as an Alfred Hitchcock film thriller set in the 1930's, 'The 39 Steps' is a classic tale of mystery and intrigue which has thrilled audiences for generations. However, it required a script by Steve Barlow to see Buchan's book first transferred to the stage, and for a revised award-winning adaptation by Patrick Barlow, to create the amazing stage comedy which visits Norwich Theatre Royal this week - penultimate stop on the production’s Spring 2024 tour before returning to London's West End in September.
Maybe you have seen the play or the film, maybe you haven't. As a parody homage more akin to Monty Python than the traditional satirists, Barlow's script sees four actors take on all 139 characters from the play’s original script. Under Maria Aitken's direction, a Vaudeville 'Memory Man' (played by Eugene McCoy) is the means used to transfer military secrets to agents of an unfriendly power. In the audience is bored and bumbling Richard Hannay (Tom Byrne), subsequently entangled in a spiral of intrigue as three separate women (all played by Safeena Ladha) ensnare him, thus leading him on a quest to clear his name from a murder that he did not commit.
Part farce, part melodrama, and part jolly good romp, all four actors utilise their quick wits, slick timing, perfect projection and a range of innovative props and special effects to transport us from London to Edinburgh and to the Scottish Highlands in a desperate bid to find the real spy. The result is an hilarious comedy, made to look so easy by this talented and extremely well-rehearsed cast.
Whilst firmly seated in the traditions of PG Wodehouse, Oscar Wilde, and, more recently, in the spirit of Michael Palin’s ‘Ripping Yarns’ and Denise Deegan’s ‘Daisy Pulls It Off’, Barlow’s script embraces us with its contrasting concoction of dark secrets, and the tale of an innocent man caught in a web of intrigue and murder whilst pursuing a happy-go-lucky romance. Tom Byrne perfectly encaptures the spirit of Richard Hannay, the bored bachelor who cannot resist a pretty lady, but who is drawn up to his neck into a criminal treacherous plot. Safeena Ladha shines three ways, first murdered in Hannay’s flat as Annabella, then becoming entangled with him (and indeed handcuffed to him) as romantic tension rises on the train to Scotland in the role of Pamela, and still finding time to become the comedy foil as Scottish crofter’s wife Margaret. But the real laughs are provided by the antics of Eugene McCoy and Maddie Rice, who between them not only play all of the other characters with split-second timing, put provide us with a barrel-load of laughs.
If the present endless round of pre-election party politics and speeches is getting you down, go see this glorious comedy at Norwich Theatre Royal. Admittedly, there is one topical reference to the General Election, but, I promise you, the rest of the ride is pleasure and laughter all of the way.
