Darwin in Malibu
adapted by Patrick Barlow
based on the book by John Buchan
from the movie of Alfred Hitchcock
March 19–April 2, 2011
Johnson Theater, TPAC
More About The 39 Steps
- Tennessee Repartee (Tennessee Rep's official newsletter) article featuring Martha Wilkinson (Must have Adobe Reader)
- Watch NPT's "Arts Break" about The 39 Stepsem>
Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps
Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with as juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have The 39 Steps, a fast-paced whodunit for anyone who loves the magic of theatre! This two-time Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning treat is packed with nonstop laughs, over 150 zany characters (played by a ridiculously talented cast of four), an on-stage plane crash, handcuffs, missing fingers, and some good old-fashioned romance!
In The 39 Steps, Richard Hannay—a man with a boring life—finds himself on an extraordinary and entertaining adventure when a quickly acquainted spy is killed by assassins with a butter knife. Soon, a mysterious organization called "The 39 Steps" is hot on the man's trail in a nationwide manhunt that climaxes in a death-defying finale! A fast-paced, riotous blend of virtuoso performances and wildly inventive stagecraft, The 39 Steps amounts to an unforgettable evening of riotous pleasure!
Copeland says: "Ever since seeing a scene from The 39 Steps on the Tony Awards, the staff has been asking almost daily when we can take a crack at this one. It is a fast-paced, brilliantly constructed farce with 150 roles helmed by a cast of four. It's sort of the fun of Noises Off combined with an homage to the film noir that Alfred Hitchcock made famous. The challenge of all the roles and all the locations and the necessity of the precise comic timing that farces require intrigue and excite me artistically... plus it is going to be a lot of fun."