THE 39 STEPS Takes the Stage at Westport Community Theatre

The 39 Steps, a comedy by John Buchan, takes the stage at Westport Community Theatre with performances from June 9 through 25. Donna McLaughlin Wyant directs the WCT production, with an outstanding local cast of Richard Holmes, Bill Johnston and Samantha Pattinson of Westport; Linda Gilmore and Giovanna Olcese of Norwalk; David Victor of Fairfield and Joseph Maker of Stamford.

The 39 Steps won the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy and the 2008 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience. It was a two-time Tony Award winner at the 2008 Tony Awards, for which it had received six nominations. The fast-paced whodunit masterfully mixes the suspense of a Hitchcock masterpiece and a spy novel, with a dash of Monty Python humor, to produce a comedy of nonstop laughs. The cast plays over 150 characters with on-stage antics including handcuffs, missing fingers, a plane crash and some good old-fashioned romance.

In The 39 Steps, a man with a boring life meets a woman with a thick accent who says she's a spy. When he takes her home, she is murdered. Soon, the mysterious organization The 39 Steps, is hot on the man's trail in a nationwide manhunt that climaxes in a death-defying finale. Wildly inventive stagecraft and riotous virtuoso performances make for unforgettable theatrical entertainment in the comedy. The New York Times described The 39 Steps as "Theatre at its finest!... Absurdly enjoyable! This gleefully theatrical riff is fast and frothy..."

Director Donna McLaughlin Wyant, an award-winning TV writer and producer, brings her production expertise to The 39 Steps once again - reprising her successful Darien Arts Center production of this play in the current Westport production. Wyant's other directing credits include Porphyra, a Greek Rock Opera that debuted at Carnegie Hall, Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None at the Westport Community Theatre, several Weekend One Acts at the Darien Library and a collection of One Act plays at the Powerhouse Theatre in New Canaan. As an actress, Wyant has performed in many off-Broadway and European productions and in the television soap opera Another World. Her awards include New York Film FestivAl Gold silver and bronze medals, a Grammy Certificate for her songwriting and an Emmy and Clio for writing and producing.

The 39 Steps is produced by arrangement with Samuel French Inc., and has performances from June 9 through 25, on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and at 2:00 p.m. on Sundays, with a Thursday performance on June 15 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $25, $23 for seniors and students, and can be purchased at westportcommunitytheatre.com or by calling (203) 226-1983. The Westport Community Theatre is located at the Westport Town Hall, 110 Myrtle Avenue.

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