Review: THE 39 STEPS, Theatre Royal Brighton

The UK Tour of The 39 Steps has hit the shores of Brighton, and it remains in excellent shape.

A stage adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1930’s spy film (which was in turn was an adaptation of John Buchans novel), The 39 Steps is a madcap dramedy set in 1935 but many of its themes feel relevant today, despite the wacky premise of just four actors playing 139 characters.

Richard Hannay is a distinguished gentlemen that is wrongfully accused of murder, when he brings a young woman home who warns him of ‘The 39 Steps’ and is then gruesomely attacked. The play opens with Hannay talking in a retrospective about his life, peppered with culturally relevant comments about politics and war, and acknowledging the dangerous world that we all live in. What follows is 100 minutes of beautiful chaos and non-stop belly laughs.

Make no mistake, this is a whip-smart book by Patrick Barlow – nuanced yet farcical, peppered with Hitchcock references and is no doubt a joy to perform.

Tom Byrne as Hannay is a consummate charmer, playing deftly off Safeena Ladha’s multiple roles as various love interests. Ladha hams up a cartoonish German accent as Anabella Schmidt but is tenderly understated as sweet Margaret and toffee-nosed Pamela.

Eugene McCoy and Maddie Rice are credited under the monikers ‘Clown 1’ and ‘Clown 2’ and are nothing short of perfection. Playing villains, heroes, men, women, and everything in-between, McCoy and Rice have the kind of flair and dexterity of movement that seems other-worldly. Clowning around is no doubt an incredibly challenging skill to execute well, and this pair appear to have mastered it.

Movement Director Toby Sedgwick deserves an obvious shoutout here, and one images that it takes a huge amount of precision, timing and planning to create something that appears so wildly chaotic.

There are two or three scenes used for exposition that feel a bit slow – this show thrives when all four actors are present and manically flying about the stage. The use of props to tell the story is, at times, absolute genius – who doesn’t love a shadow puppet?

The 39 Steps is an inspired innovation of the spy thriller genre, utilising clownish comedy and an incredibly skilled cast to create something reassuringly nostalgic.

The 39 Steps UK tour continues in Brighton until July 20, heading to York and Leicester before a West End run in August and September.

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