The 39 Steps
Cambridge Arts Theatre
7th May 2024
The Olivier-winning comedy ‘The 39 Steps’ is a daft and funny romp that parodies the Hitchcockian spy thrillers of the 1930s and 40s. Based mainly on the 1935 film of the same name (and its 1915 source novel), and containing numerous allusions and references to other legendary Hitchcock films, Patrick Barlow’s play spoofs the conventions of the genre with its tongue firmly in its cheek. What started out as a small show playing village halls in the 90s became a West End smash hit that ran for 9 years, and a new production is entertaining regional audiences from now through to the summer, stopping this week at Cambridge Arts Theatre.
It tells the story of Richard Hannay (played by Tom Byrne), an unsuspecting man bored of his unfulfilled life in 1930s London, who goes on the run after being mistakenly accused of murder following a particularly eventful night at the theatre. He discovers he’s now unwittingly part of a secret mission to stop an organisation known as ‘The 39 Steps’ from stealing military secrets. His adventure takes him from London to the Scottish Highlands, as he tries to dodge the bad guys (Maddie Rice and Eugene McCoy in multiple roles), avoid getting involved with women he shouldn’t (Safeena Ladha, again in various roles), and clear his name.
‘The 39 Steps’ is a love letter to Hitchcock, celebrating the tropes and tricks he used so cleverly back in the day that made him the master of suspense. The show spoofs this with huge amounts of comedy and self-awareness, creating a clever hybrid of the two, and a very entertaining one. Director Maria Aitken uses the space cleverly, and manages to recreate the story’s more dramatic scenes (car and airplane chases, bridge fights) with real inventiveness, while also making it funny. Sets and costumes (Peter Mckintosh) are effective and allow for plenty of visual jokes, most of which land with great impact. Some clever lighting design (Ian Scott) also helps to make the piece feel more cinematic when it needs to, alongside setting up some wonderful moments of comedy. The tone stays purposefully daft throughout (very “Mischief Theatre” in style), knowingly overblown and farcical, and it really works. Like most shows in this style, the show does start to run out of steam in the second half, with some scenes not quite hitting the mark and feeling drawn out longer than necessary. For a duration of only 2 hours, the show does start to feel longer as it nears its end, and while it never becomes boring, it does tiptoe near that territory once or twice later on.
Thanks to its broad and deliberately-silly style, ‘The 39 Steps’ is a play that naturally lends itself to gifted comic actors, and the four leads here demonstrate great timing and really deliver the laughs. Tom Byrne makes a great lead as Richard Hannay, playing up the “posh pompous buffoon on the run” brilliantly and completely embodying the character. Safeena Ladha also does well as the multiple love interests that complicate Hannay’s life even further, having great chemistry with Byrne and succeeding in making each woman a distinct character. And special mention must also go to Maddie Rice and Eugene McCoy as the “clowns”, a fantastic comedy duo who play a multitude of roles between them, sometimes even in the same scene with a lightning-quick change of accent and wardrobe (even gender). They are hugely entertaining and really elevate the production to another level.
Farce will never be to everyone’s taste, but ‘The 39 Steps’ is a delightfully daft dose of joy that we all need right now. A clever comedy delivered inventively, and with an obvious love for the material by its cast, ‘The 39 Steps’ is a guaranteed giggle.
‘The 39 Steps’ runs at Cambridge Arts Theatre until Saturday 11th July 2024, before continuing on its UK tour which runs through to the beginning of August.
Performance runtime 2 hours including interval
