State Theatre Company Announces 39 STEPS

A brand new production of the Olivier Award-winning comedy The 39 Steps that will star Nathan Page, of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries fame, is set to warm up Adelaide's winter.

With equal parts farce, clowning masterclass and heart-stopping noir thriller, The 39 Steps is Patrick Barlow's hysterical stage adaptation of John Buchan's classic novel and Hitchcock's hit 1935 spy thriller film.

Patrick Barlow said "The original story by John Buchan is one of the great English thrillers and was a precursor to the genre. But it was the Hitchcock movie version that most excited me with the sheer challenge and madness of replicating an entire movie on stage."

This wonderfully deranged comedy features four actors, playing 139 roles and has become legendary for its cocktail of fast-paced fun, thrilling action and riotous invention.

The debonair Richard Hannay is pulled into a web of intrigue and deceit after attending a vaudeville show in London. Pursued by a shadowy organisation throughout Britain, entranced by femmes fatale and twisted into knots by skulduggery and suspicion, Hannay must solve the mystery of The 39 Steps and save his skin before it is too late!

After nine years on the West End, the multi-award winning original stage production of The 39 Steps closed in late 2015, but not before touring globally, including an extended season on Broadway. It played to a mind-boggling three million people worldwide. State Theatre Company will bring Jon Halpin's brand new production of the hugely popular The 39 Steps to the Dunstan Playhouse in August.

Director Jon Halpin said "The 39 Steps is a truly remarkable achievement - it stays very true to the film, respecting its cinematic achievements, and yet it is one of the silliest, funniest shows you're ever likely to see. I can't wait for rehearsals to start."

Our production will feature Nathan Page in the lead role as the dashing Richard Hannay. Nathan's breakout role has been as Detective Inspector Jack Robinson, the romantic male lead opposite Essie Davis, in the popular Australian TV series Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.

Nathan Page said "I'm delighted to be coming back to Adelaide to perform with the company where I cut my artistic teeth, to whom I owe so much and to a city I adore."

Together with Nathan, Adelaide's Anna Steen (The Importance of Being Earnest) will be on stage alongside Charles Mayer (The Popular Mechanicals) and Tim Overton (The Popular Mechanicals) playing 135 of those roles, complete with stiff-upper-lips, British gung-ho and pencil moustaches.

Set and Costume Designer Ailsa Paterson will bring all 139 characters to life with a myriad of costumes made by State Theatre Company's wardrobe department.

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