The 39 Steps — Brisbane Arts Theatre

Overview

Think giant dinosaurs are the only source of novel to movie to stage fun at Brisbane Arts Theatre? Think again. Jurassic Park the Musical might be letting re-animated prehistoric creatures off of the island and onto Petrie Terrace, but it's about to have some company of the espionage-oriented, Hitchockian kind.

The 39 Steps comes to Brissie with quite the pedigree — and with the theatre version of a family tree that's just as intriguing as the play itself. First, back in 1915, Scottish author John Buchan literally wrote the book. Then, in 1935, the filmmaker otherwise known as the master of suspense turned it into a flick. In 1995, the first stage version premiered, and was then rewritten in 2005. It took inspiration not only from the original text, but from Hitchcock's film and references to his other classics such as Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, Psycho, Vertigo and North by Northwest, turning a serious spy thriller into a Monty Python-esque comedy.

The end result has won an Olivier award, two Tonys and a Helpmann, and now you have the chance to find out why. Plus, you'll see seven actors play 150 roles in 100 minutes, just for something different. If you love it all — and we don't need to do any sleuthing, fake our own deaths or investigate a secret society to think that you will — then afterwards, you might want to track down the much-more-faithful video game.