Show Review: 39 Steps

 

The 39 Steps is a play at home in the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly in London's west end. It is based on the 1915 novel by John Buchan.
When we went to see this we didnt really know what this was about. I remember seeing an adaptation on the BBC about 4 or 5 years ago with Rupert Penry - Jones but I couldnt really remember what it was about. It has been one of the shows me and Matt said we wanted to see next and so we got tickets for it on Saturday Night when we were in London. We booked the tickets direct at the theatre box office and paid £38.50 for seats in the stalls.
The first thing we noticed when we got there was how small the theatre was and that it was practically underground! In fact it was weird because during the show you could hear the subway going past!
It is made up of a cast of just 4 people which when I first read I was shocked about, I mean how could you do a west end play with just 4 people!!! I have to say it was very so well done, there is the main character and then the 3 other cast members play multiple roles which is at times absolutely hilarious as you can probably imagine!
The story is about a man called Richard Hanney who becomes tangled in a plot with a group of spies and when a freelance spy is murdered in his flat, he goes on the run to try and uncover the truth of that the 39 steps are.
Obviously I dont want to say too much about what the plots involve in case any of you are planning to go and see it. We said one of the best things about seeing it was the fact that we didnt really know what to expect or what it was about because it meant we didnt know what was going to happen.


If you in London and you get the chance to go and see this then you must. As I say the theatre is quite small so I would imagine where ever you sat, you would have a good view of the stage, we were sat in Row P of the stalls in seats 11 and 12 which was right in the centre of the stalls just where the overhang of the balcony is.

It doesnt look here like the view is good but you were not meant to take picture in the auditorium so i just wanted to sneak a photo so you could get an idea. We could see the stage perfectly.
I would definitely say this is up on my top productions in the west end. It made a nice change to see a play instead of a musical. Although I have only seen a few it is defiantly in my top plays!

Have you seen 39 steps? What did you think?