Die 39 Stufen

In the organizer's words:

London, August 1935: Richard Hannay is trying to relieve his boredom at the theater when a shot is suddenly fired during the performance! Panic breaks out and Annabella Schmidt, a strikingly beautiful young lady, flees to Richard's home. She fired the shot herself to get to safety. But she was unable to shake off her pursuers. That very night, she is murdered in Richard's apartment. Dying, with a knife in her back, she takes him into her confidence: Foreign agents have stolen secret documents relating to national security and must be prevented from taking the information out of the country. Before Hannay knows it, he is the protagonist of a breathtaking espionage thriller: hunted himself as a suspect in Annabella's murder, he tries to stop the foreign agents. A wild manhunt begins with jumps from moving trains, fake policemen, a mysterious villain who is missing a piece of his little finger and an incredibly attractive woman who keeps turning up, whose heart must be conquered as well as saving the country. It goes without saying that both succeed in the end.

Patrick Barlow's stage version succeeds congenially in translating the exuberant plot from Hitchcock's old film classic and the atmospheric stylistic elements of film noir into a contemporary theatrical language that is both a fast-paced, whirling parody and a loving homage to the genre. Two men slip into a new character with every new line they start, even if they can only change hats each time; a chase ensues on a slowing train with no more technology than a little light and sound; four actors take on the roles of an entire film cast and rebuild the stage at the same time. "The 39 Steps" pulls out all the stops that a fast-paced play has to offer. Screamingly funny and a declaration of love to the theater at least as much as to Hitchcock's films!

Price information:

VVK from 01.08.2024 Single tickets 15 to 26 € / reduced 7.50 to 13 € for pupils, students and federal volunteers and further information at Kulturbüro Lünen, Kurt-Schumacher-Str. 41, 44532 Lünen; phone 02306 104-2299 or at www.kulturbuero-luenen.de.