The 39 Steps - The Lowry Theatre - 03/06/08 by Jeni Pemberton

Alfred Hitchcock’s classic spy thriller The 39 Steps, has been transformed into a high successful comedy which in 2007 won the prestigious Olivier Award for Best New Comedy.

The plot follows the adventures of Richard Hannay who discovers a conspiracy to bring down the government becomes a murder suspect in the process. Pursued by secret agents and with the police and a killer on his trail, he has to discover the secret of the 39 Steps in order to prove his innocence.

With a cast of only four it is incredible that the play included 139 role changes.

David Michaels (Richard Hannay) was rarely off stage during the fast paced drama and gave 100% throughout. His enthusiasm, energy and highly polished delivery as he played the traditional English gentleman hero provided a lynch pin for the other performers to shift and change as they assumed different roles sometimes with bewildering speed.

Alan Perrin & Colin Mace (Man 1 & Man 2 respectively) were simply magnificent as they apparently effortlessly morphed into different characters at a bewildering speed whilst maintaining control of the props hats and costumes.

Clare Swinburne (Annabella Schmidt/Pamela/Margaret) was also superb on the night and when at times looked so uncannily like Madeleine Carroll in the 1935 film, that I fully expected Hitchcock to make one of his appearances

There were so many different visual and verbal gags packed into the 100 mins that there was almost constant laughter in the theatre and I’m sure that no two members of the audience will have experienced exactly the same performance.

If you suffer from an embarrassing laugh this is definitely not a play you can risk going to see. For sure at some time during the performance you are going to be caught out laughing hysterically at some detail nobody else has noticed.

The staging is very simple but at the same time extremely clever and versatile. Ladders became the Forth Bridge, chairs were turned into a car and rippling fabric was used to create a waterfall and stream at surprisingly one point an actor become a bog, a plant and a cleft in the rock.

The production is slick, the acting excellent and the plot moves at a frantic pace. It’s an evening of fun, laughter and the occasional scare. A real tonic!