The Mount Players Theatre Company has an exciting show in store for their first production of 2023.
From February 24 until March 12, the group will perform a radio-play adaptation of The 39 Steps, first written by John Buchan, adapted to film by Alfred Hitchcock and presented in its final, audio form by director John Rowland.
To be brought to life with sound effects and props, the radio-play version of this thrilling theatre is comedic and intriguing.
Show producer David Runnalls said with just dress rehearsals to go before opening night, everything was running smoothly.
“The director is John Rowland, he’s been involved in radio for a long time, going back to the BBC. He’s got a passion for radio plays, he’s very knowledgeable,” Mr Runnalls said.
“He has adapted it for the stage as a radio play, which means there’s a microphone and it’s set up as a BBC studio and the audience becomes a studio.”
A cast of six actors play over 25 characters in this journey which takes a notorious fugitive and a spellbound woman from a London music hall to Scotland’s remote highlands.
The play includes all the best scenes from Hitchcock’s beloved film, including the escape on the Forth Bridge, the bi-plane crash, the Flying Scotsman and the death-defying finale in the London Palladium.
Mr Runnalls said the actors were mostly locals and had been chosen for their abilities to switch accents and characters at the drop of a hat.
“There’s multiple characters and it’s a lot of fun,” Mr Runnalls said.
“It’s a good way to start the year, with a comedy.”
Elsie Lange
