The 39 Steps

John Buchan’s hero Richard Hannay in the classic adventure spy thriller The Thirty-Nine Steps, set just before the start of the 1914-18 war. 

This was the first of the five Hannay adventures.  Buchan presents him in an extraordinary set of adventures which end with the unmasking of a major international spy network.   Adventurer Hannay, just returned from South Africa, is thoroughly bored with London life, but is caught up in a murder and chased from London to his native Highlands (across the Forth Bridge) by the police and onwards till he finally succeeds in solving the enigma of “The 39 steps”.

Alfred Hitchcock used the novel as the basis for his much-loved 1935 film of the same name.

Hannay’s story is told here by Jonathan Goodwin of Don’t Go into the Cellar Theatre Company and for his stage adaptation he went right back to the original book.  He says that his version is “more faithful and accurate than most!”  His recent successes here in Leek have included The Sign of the Four (from the Sherlock Holmes tale) and Truly, Jack the Ripper.

Tickets now on sale, at the Foxlowe and online.

And here’s Jonathan Goodwin commenting on the exciting spy tale …