In January, the Globe Theatre presented The Hound of the Baskervilles on its main stage. While the title referenced the well-known Sherlock Holmes story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the play wasn’t in the same mystery/thriller vein. Rather, it was a slapstick version of the story.
The upcoming Regina Little Theatre play The 39 Steps has a similar pedigree. The most famous adaptation of Scottish writer John Buchan’s pre-WWI espionage thriller set in London was Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film starring Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll. What RLT is presenting is a 2005 adaptation by Patrick Barlow that is inspired by the Hitchcock film, but which plays as a comedy, with four actors performing the roles of over 100 different characters.
The 39 Steps runs at the Performing Arts Centre on Feb. 10-12 at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 13 at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. You can find more details on the RLT website. To give you a taste, here’s a trailer for a 2013 production mounted somewhere in the world by the Arts Club Theatre Company.
https://youtu.be/faWjoNjwEDs
