5 / 10
For all the good intentions of the production, my reaction to the piece remains the same 18 years on. Time hangs heavy as one fast-paced escapade hurtles into the next, given that emotional engagement with these characters is vanishingly hard to come by. I found myself doing an excess of watch-checking during the 100-minute playing time interrupted by an interval that does more for bar takings than the storytelling.
4 / 10
Some moments are deftly done: the chase across the Scottish moors is performed in silhouette, with human shadows, miniature 2D-cutouts, and 3D models of biplanes providing a delicious mishmash of scale and perspective. The comic-erotic scene where Pamela removes her stockings while handcuffed to Hannay retains its edgy power. But we’ve now seen the other stuff – the ironic sidelong glances into the auditorium, the deliberately botched physical gags, the mood-puncturing jokes – done a million times in the last two decades, and often better. This is a reminder that even solid-gold hits tarnish with time.
Save up to 55% on tickets to The 39 Steps at Trafalgar Theatre. Tickets are available from £25.
Patrick Barlow’s parody The 39 Steps creaks and groans in places but still has plenty of laughs. Wrapped around the central character of Richard Hannay, the story unfurls as we see him accused of murder, run from the police and then defeat a foreign cabal of spies.
See what the critics are saying about The 39 Steps at Trafalgar Theatre. Learn more about the show and read the reviews.
Last night, Patrick Barlow's adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic spy thriller, The 39 Steps celebrated returning to the West End after a nine-year absence with a Gala Night at the Trafalgar Theatre. Check out phtoos here!
The current UK Tour cast of the Tony and Olivier Award-winning comedy, THE 39 STEPS, will appear in the strictly limited West End season at the Trafalgar Theatre from 16 August to 28 September, with an opening night on Monday 19 August.
| 2006 | West End |
Original London Production West End |
| 2008 | Broadway |
Roundabout Production Broadway |
| 2009 | US Tour |
National Tour US Tour |
| 2010 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Transfer Off-Broadway |
| 2015 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Off-Broadway |
