Comic Thriller The 39 Steps Announces New London Cast

The London production of Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps has announced that a new cast will take the stage beginning January 31. Rufus Wright will assume the role of leading man Richard Hannay; Laura Rogers will play Annabella Schmidt, Pamela and Margaret; and Dermot Canavan and Sean Kearns will take on every other character as Man 1 and Man 2.

Helmed by Maria Aitken and adapted by Patrick Barlow from the 1935 Hitchcock film thriller, The 39 Steps follows the incredible adventures of dashingly handsome hero Richard Hannay as he goes on the run from police, dodges double-crossing secret agents and becomes entangled with several devastatingly beautiful women. The cast of four actors reenact all of the characters, locations and famous scenes in the movie using just a few props a lot of theatrical ingenuity and split second quick changes.

Wright’s previous West End credits include Frost/Nixon, Mary Stuart and Journey’s End. Rogers is best known as series regular Sheena Williams in the TV drama Bad Girls and also starred in the spin-off West End production Bad Girls The Musical at the Garrick Theatre. Other stage credits include the role of Lady Macbeth at the Globe Theatre. Canavan was last in the West End in Hairspray, where he covered the roles of Edna and Wilbur Turnblad for the entire two-year run at the Shaftesbury Theatre. Kearns has played several seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company and was in Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 and Bedlam at the Globe Theater.

The 39 Steps began life at London's Tricycle Theatre in August of 2006 before transferring to the Criterion Theatre, where it is now the West End’s longest running comedy. The New York production of the show, which transferred to off-Broadway’s New World Stages last year after a successful run on Broadway, shuttered on January 16 after playing more than 1,100 performances.