Review: The 39 Steps (Touring)

Tuesday, 23rd July 2024 at the Grand Opera House York.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Another page to screen to stage number is back on stage: John Buchan’s 1915 novel, The 39 Steps. Picked up as a classic spy thriller in the 1930s by none other than Alfred Hitchcock, and more recently adapted into a farcical comedy by Patrick Barlow, the tale is now an Olivier and Tony Award-winning show which pairs spy thriller conventions with all the trimmings of clever, nostalgic farce.

In brief: an unsuspecting chap named Richard Hannay (Tom Byrne) finds himself caught up in a manhunt for murder, with himself as suspect. As poor Hannay – trapped by circumstance and framed by accident – goes on the run, he meets a wild array of characters, and in the relentless and eventful pursuit lies the comedy. One of the very best things about this show is its creativity in conjuring all the classic moments of spy stories, crafting high-octane chases through inventive stage craft in ways which feel surprising and impressive and hilarious in one beat.

Byrne is fantastic and does well to balance the posturing straight man with the floundering clowning required at intervals. The remaining cast are left to multi-role for their lives as the masses, beginning with Safeena Ladha who brings us the mysterious, dramatic Annabella and the prim, proper and swooning Margaret, navigating the tongue-in-cheek seriousness of events alongside some great physical comedy.

It’s in Eugene McCoy and Maddie Rice that we find our clowns (literally credited as Clown 1 and 2…). The pair master sharp quick-changes between incredibly varied characters, providing some of the show’s best comic highlights in their speedy shifts, sometimes timed to a millisecond. Rice has wonderful stage presence and excels as larger-than-life characters while McCoy impresses as a distinctive comic talent – his physicality is superb and feels transformed with each character.

Maria Aitken’s direction hurtles us along smoothly for the most part, with only a few lulls in which the action starts to feel a little strained, but with the pace and skill required in this show, it’s perhaps wise to have those moments of respite… Movement director Toby Sedgwick also works magic here with so many impressive physical sequences playing out so smoothly. Peter McKintosh’s set is another highlight: a stage upon a stage, with other locations conjured through props, the whole thing is beautifully meta in that self-aware silly way that clever farce so brilliantly embraces.

All in all, this remains a cracking farce – it carries that sense of nostalgia for old school slapstick and silliness and remains a thoroughly entertaining few hours.

The 39 Steps is at the Grand Opera House, York until July 27th 2024 – more information and tickets can be found here.