Photo Flash: First Look at TheatreWorks' THE 39 STEPS

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley continues its 50th Anniversary Season with the Olivier Award-winning comedy The 39 Steps. This hilarious, high-speed spoof of Alfred Hitchcock's silver-screen classic hurtles a notorious fugitive and a breathtaking blonde from a London music hall to Scotland's most remote highlands crawling with devious spies. With a mysteriously murdered agent, a wicked plot to destroy England, and a race against the clock to stop it, this brilliantly funny show is a tribute to the master's greatest films. Directed by Leslie Martinson, The 39 Steps features four fearless actors changing characters more than 100 times, stretching the boundaries of theatrical invention. The riotous comedy will be presented August 21-September 15, 2019 (press opening: August 24) at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View. For tickets ($30-$100) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

The 39 Steps began as an adventure novel published in 1915 by John Buchan, and the first of five novels featuring Richard Hannay, an all-action hero with a stiff upper lip and a miraculous knack for getting himself out of sticky situations. The novel was adapted for film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1935 starring Robert Donat and Madeline Carroll. The film departed substantially from the book and introduced the two major female characters. In 1995 two writers based in the North of England, Nobby Dimon and Simon Corble, came up with a two-man version of The 39 Steps which toured with great success to small venues, based on both John Buchan's book and on the highly reputed 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film version. Celebrated English actor and comedian Patrick Barlow was commissioned to adapt the script for a larger production. His adaptation debuted at London's Tricycle Theatre in August 2006 and was so successful it gained an immediate transfer to the West End, where it won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy and ran for nine years. Its Broadway production by Roundabout Theatre Company was nominated for six Tony Awards including Best Play in 2008.

Photo Credit: Kevin Berne