The 39 Steps is a Hitchcock thriller from 1935, based on a 1919 novel by John Buchan. It was later adapted for the stage and premiered at the West Yorkshire Playhouse a decade ago. Haywood Arts Regional Theatre brings The 39 Steps to Waynesville from Friday, June 19, to Saturday, Aug. 1.
Press release from HART:
You don’t have to be a fan of Alfred Hitchcock to appreciate the wacky Broadway comedy hit The 39 Steps but if you are, you will recognize nearly every film by the master of suspense in this send up which opens at the HART Theatre on June 19. The show opened on Broadway in 2008 to rave reviews and after a successful run, moved off-Broadway where it is still going. It won the Olivier Award as Best Play, was nominated for numerous Tony Awards, and has now been performed all over the world. It is a tour de force for four actors who have to be able to play multiple characters and even recreate a chase across the rooftop of a moving train. Julie Kinter has assembled a stellar cast that includes HART’s Guest Actors this summer, Hunter Henrickson, and Will Vickers, along with George Heard and Clara Burrus. It is a show designed to leave audiences rolling in the aisles and wondering how they did it.
The story comes from a melodrama published in 1915 by John Buchan. It would have long been forgotten but it became a classic 1935 film by Alfred Hitchcock starring Robert Donat. In 1999 the British Film Institute ranked Hitchcock’s version of “The 39 Steps” the 4th best British film of all time. Another version of the film, copied almost shot for shot, was made in 1959 by Ralph Thomas and starred Kenneth More. It has also been filmed for television and presented on radio, but none compare with the original, which is the subject of the stage production.
This is theatre at its finest, with actors doing things that don’t seem possible, and that can only happen on a stage. The show will run weekends through July 5 then perform 2pm Saturday matinees through August 1. HART is offering a special buy one get one special for the Saturday matinee performances.
Performances are June 19, 20, 26, 27 and July 3 & 4 at 7:30 and Sundays June 21, 28 and July 5 at 3pm, then Saturdays, July 11, 18, 25 and August 1 at 3pm Tickets are available on line at www.harttheatre.org or by calling the HART Box Office, at 828 456 6322 Tues-Sat. from 1-5pm. Performances are at the HART Theatre, 250 Pigeon St. in Waynesville.
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