Jo Stone-Fewings will become the fourth actor to play lead Richard Hannay in The 39 Steps when he joins the comic thriller on 28 April. Stone-Fewings follows Simon Paisley-Day, Robert Portal and Charles Edwards as the man forced to go on the run when a woman is murdered in his London apartment.
The successful comic version of John Buchan’s novel and Alfred Hitchcock’s film has been running at the Criterion since September 2006, and features four multi-talented cast members taking on 139 roles. Stone-Fewings, as Hannay, is the only performer to stick to just one character. His co-stars, Josefina Gabrielle, Martyn Ellis and Simon Gregor take on a plethora of personas as the story, including all of the movie’s most memorable moments, is told.
Stone-Fewings’s last London performance came last year when he appeared as Sparkish in the Theatre Royal Haymarket production of The Country Wife. Previously he has appeared in War And Peace, Fuente Ovejuna, Ghetto (all National Theatre), The Taming Of The Shrew, Twelfth Night, Richard III (all Royal Shakespeare Company) and See How They Run (Duchess).
Since first opening in London at the Tricycle – its London home before transferring to the Criterion – in August 2006, The 39 Steps has won a Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy and opened productions in Israel, Italy, South Africa and on Broadway. The coming year will see productions open in Australia, Korea and 15 other countries.
The 39 Steps is currently booking at the Criterion until 11 October. em>MA