Lisa McCune as a German spy … that sounds intriguing. Of course, she could play it straight and just use her regular voice but The 39 Steps, the Oliver and Tony Award-winning show, is a comedy as well as a thriller.
So, McCune may be hamming it up a bit. Why not? Everyone else will be too, including her leading man, Ian Stenlake, who plays the central character of Richard Hannay. Hannay is a recurring character in several of Scottish novelist John Buchan’s books, of which The Thirty-Nine Steps is the most famous, published in 1915.
In 1935 it was turned into the film The 39 Steps by the great Alfred Hitchcock. It’s had other screen treatments since, as well as this new stage version being presented in Brisbane with local outfit Woodward Productions. It runs in QPAC’s Playhouse from October 7 to 19.
The stage version tends to rely on the film more than the book and that’s fine with McCune.
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“Hitchcock put the female characters in the film,” McCune says. “I play a German spy, a Scottish farm girl and Pamela Edwards, who is Richard Hannay’s love interest.” (So, a Scottish brogue along with a German accent feature.)
In this production McCune and Stenlake are joined on stage by The Umbilical Brothers (David Collins and Shane Dundas), who add quite a bit of physical and other comedy to the mix.
What to expect? Well, you will get Alfred Hitchcock’s classic spy thriller with a dash of Monty Python-style chaos in a production that has thrilled more than three million fans across 39 countries, from London’s West End to Broadway. Adapted by Patrick Barlow from Buchan’s novel, the show has been reimagined by acclaimed director Damien Ryan.
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In it we join the suave but unsuspecting Richard Hannay as he finds himself framed for murder and tangled in a web of spies, secrets and seductive strangers. To clear his name, he must outrun the law, outwit international agents and survive a string of increasingly absurd adventures. You wouldn’t have James Bond without Richard Hannay.
In just 100 minutes of non-stop action the four fearless actors involved play 130 roles in a dazzling display of quick changes, inventive stagecraft and high-energy hilarity. And it’s presented rather monochromatically to suggest the period.
McCune acknowledges that a mostly older demographic will be more familiar with the book than she was, but insists a younger audience is also embracing this production, which began its tour at the Sydney Opera House in late August and is currently playing in her home town of Melbourne.
“My daughter went to see it and she loved it and she is 20,” McCune says. “She went back for a second time. It’s a wonderful handmade kind of show and the set is designed in black-and-white and there is a lot of projection and screens and it moves along at a fast pace.”
McCune, 54, is one of Australia’s most loved actors, known for her role in TV series Blue Heelers as Senior Constable Maggie Doyle, and in Sea Patrol as Lieutenant Kate McGregor RAN. She has won four Gold Logie Awards. McCune has also featured in many theatre roles including alongside Teddy Tahu Rhodes in The King and I.
Her most recent appearance in Brisbane was as Elizabeth Laine in Conor McPherson’s musical Girl From the North Country, which featured the songs of Bob Dylan and played at QPAC during Brisbane Festival in September 2022. She says she’s looking forward to bringing The 39 Steps to Brisbane.
“We’re coming up for some warm weather,” she says. Can do.
The 39 Steps plays the Playhouse, QPAC, October 7 to 19.
qpac.com.au