FOUR ACTORS, 150 CHARACTERS, ABSURDLY ENJOYABLE
Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python, and you have The 39 Steps. To put it mildly, Richard Hannay’s life is pretty dull, but when a mysterious woman appears in his apartment one stormy night, he gets pulled into an epic caper of murder and mayhem. This fast-paced thriller hits the ground running with a cast of four portraying 150 characters. This is live theatre at its best!
Comedy, Mystery, Farce

Director’s Note

“What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out?” —Alfred Hitchcock

The 39 Steps is a play that delights in contradictions. It’s a high-stakes thriller that never takes itself too seriously, a fast-paced farce built on precision, and a grand adventure made with just a handful of actors and a trunk full of ingenuity. It is both a love letter to Alfred Hitchcock and a joyful send-up of the spy genre, where trench coats and fedoras conceal not just secrets but sight gags and quick changes.

This stage adaptation has its own fascinating history. Originally a 1915 novel by John Buchan, The Thirty-Nine Steps became a beloved 1935 Hitchcock film, setting the template for the “wrong man” thriller. In 2005, playwright Patrick Barlow took that suspenseful story and reimagined it for the stage with just four actors playing over 150 roles. First premiering in London before making its way to Broadway and beyond, Barlow’s version embraces theatrical invention, turning the film’s high-speed chases, train escapes, and espionage into a gleeful display of comedic ingenuity.

Adding to the playful theatricality of our production, we’re staging The 39 Steps in-the-round—an exciting challenge that surrounds the action with the audience, pulling them even deeper into the world of the play. But for all its danger and intrigue, there is also a love story. Richard Hannay and Pamela, two people who have never truly loved anyone, find themselves handcuffed together—literally and metaphorically. And yet, amidst all the danger and derring-do, they miraculously discover the beating of their own true hearts—proof that even in a world of spies and secrets, connection is the greatest adventure of all.

This is the kind of storytelling that thrives at Creede Repertory Theatre. It asks actors to be Olympic-level shape-shifters, designers to turn simplicity into spectacle, and audiences to join in the game, using their imagination to complete the illusion. It’s a play that reminds us why we love live theatre—because we get to witness the impossible being made possible, right in front of us.

We hope you laugh, lean in, and let yourself be swept up in the adventure. It is an honor to give this play to you.