The 39 Steps - cast changes
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
ON MONDAY, July 28, 2008, Alan Perrin and Nigel Betts will join the cast of Patrick Barlow’s multi award-winning adaptation of The 39 Steps which is currently booking at the Criterion Theatre until February 7, 2009.
Perrin and Betts (as Man 1 and Man 2) will be joining Josefina Gabrielle and Jo Stone-Fewings, replacing Martyn Ellis and Simon Gregor.
Maria Aitken’s production of the John Buchan classic is performed by four actors playing a minimum of 139 roles and contains every legendary scene from the award-winning film – including the chase on the Flying Scotsman, the escape on the Forth Bridge, the first theatrical bi-plane crash ever staged and the sensational death-defying finale in the London Palladium. There’s even the memorable and controversial ‘stockings and suspenders’ scene!
Perrin’s theatre credits include His Dark Materials, The Trial, Gilgamesh, Richard III, Napoli and Millionara (National Theatre); Cyrano De Bergerac and Henry V (Royal Shakespeare Company); and Ethel and Earnest, The Man Who… and Ritual in Blood (Nottingham Playhouse)
On screen, he has appeared in The Bill, Wing and a Prayer, Prime Suspect and Wycliffe (TV); Feast of July and Dark Corners (film).
Betts’ theatre credits include Tinderbox (Bush Theatre); A New Way to Please You, Thomas Moore and Night of the Soul (Royal Shakespeare Company); Eden End, Macbeth and Neville’s Island.
His extensive screen credits include Trial and Retribution, Silent Witness, Midsommer Murders, A Touch of Frost, Grease Monkeys and The Catherine Tate Show (TV); Chain Mail, In Your Dreams and Mrs Ratcliffe’s Revolution (film).
The 39 Steps is designed by Peter McKintosh, with lighting design by Ian Scott, sound design by Mic Pool, and movement by Toby Sedgwick. It’s presented by Edward Snape for Fiery Angel Ltd and Tricycle London Productions Ltd in association with the West Yorkshire Playhouse.
The 39 Steps is currently playing on Broadway – where it recently won two Tony Awards – on tour in the UK, in Italy, Israel, Australia, Korea, Germany and Greece, and is licensed to a further 15 countries around the world including Japan and Hong Kong.