AUDITIONS
Monday, November 3, 2014 at 7:30pm (by appointment)
Tuesday, November 4, 2014 at 7:30pm (by appointment)
All roles are open to audition. We are seeking three men and one woman for this production. All auditioning will be asked to read from the script. Please dress comfortably.
Rehearsals will be held three days/nights per week, typically Sunday late afternoon/evening and Thursday evening plus one additional night based on the cast availability. The production is directed by Katherine Ray.
CALLBACKS
Thursday, November 6, 2014 at 7:30pm (if needed)
AUDITIONS BY APPOINTMENT
Please send an email to
auditions@warnertheatre.org to schedule your appointment. An audition confirmation e-mail will be sent with full details on what will be expected at your audition. Audition appointments by e-mail are preferred, but if you do not have access to e-mail call the Warner Theatre Audition Line at
860-489-7180 ext.151. Please be specific as to the date you would like to schedule your appointment.
PERFORMANCE DATES
Saturday, January 17, 2015 at 8:00pm
Sunday, January 18, 2015 at 2:00pm
Friday, January 23, 2015 at 8:00pm
Saturday, January 24, 2015 at 8:00pm
Sunday, January 25, 2015 at 2:00pm
AVAILABLE ROLES
Richard Hannay
Annabella Schmidt/Pamela/Margaret
Clown/Man #1
Clown/Man #2
All the roles in the play are performed by four actors. One plays Richard Hannay; a female plays the three woman in the play; and two “clowns” play every other character, including heroes, villains, men, women, children, and even the occasional inanimate object.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have THE 39 STEPS, a fast-paced whodunit for anyone who loves the magic of theatre! This 2-time Tony® and Drama Desk Award-winning treat is packed with non-stop laughs, over 150 zany characters (played by a ridiculously talented cast of 4), an on-stage plane crash, handcuffs, missing fingers and some good old-fashioned romance!
In THE 39 STEPS, a man with a boring life meets a woman with a thick accent who says she's a spy. When he takes her home, she is murdered. Soon, a mysterious organization called The 39 Steps is hot on the man's trail in a nationwide manhunt that climaxes in a death-defying finale!
SYNOPSIS
Richard Hannay is at a London theatre, attending a demonstration of the remarkable powers of Mr. Memory, a man with a photographic memory, when a fight breaks out and shots are fired. In the ensuing panic, he finds himself holding a frightened Annabella Schmitt, who talks him into taking her back to his flat. There, she tells him that she is a spy, being chased by assassins out to kill her. She claims to have uncovered a plot to steal vital British military secrets, implemented by a man with the top joint missing from one of his fingers, head of an espionage organization called the 39 Steps”.
The next day, Hannay wakes up to find her dead, stabbed with his bread knife. He sneaks out of the flat disguised as a milkman and takes a train to Scotland, where she had told him she was going to find the man. On the train, he sees the police on his trail. In desperation, he enters a compartment and kisses the sole occupant, the attractive Pamela, in an attempt to escape detection. She however manages to free herself from his unwanted embrace and betrays him to the law. He jumps from the train onto the Forth Rail Bridge and escapes.
He stays the night with a poor older farmer and his young wife who flirts with Hannay. The next morning, he leaves in the farmer's Sunday coat, and calls at the house the woman had told him of. There he finds the man with the missing finger-joint, the seemingly respectable Professor Jordan, who shoots him after a brief conversation and leaves him for dead. Luckily, the bullet fails to penetrate the farmer's prayer-book, left in a coat pocket, and Hannay flees once more.
He goes to the police, but they refuse to accept his story, since they know Jordan well. Hannay jumps through a window and escapes into the crowd. He tries to hide himself in a political meeting, but is mistaken for the keynote speaker; he gives a rousing impromptu speech (without knowing a thing about the candidate he is introducing), but is recognized by Pamela, who gives him up once more. They are handcuffed together and taken away by policemen. Hannay eventually realizes they are agents of the conspiracy when they bypass the nearest police station. When the car is forced to stop, he escapes, dragging an unwilling Pamela along.
They travel cross country, and stay the night at an inn, the girl still not believing Hannay's story. While he sleeps, she slips out of the handcuffs, but then eavesdrops on one of the fake policemen on the telephone downstairs; the conversation confirms Hannay's assertions. She returns to the room and sleeps on the floor. Next morning, she tells him what she heard, and is sent to London to pass it on to the police. No secrets have been reported missing however, so they do nothing to help. Instead, they follow her to get to Hannay.
She leads them to Mr. Memory's show at the London Palladium, where the police close in on the fugitive. When the performer is introduced, Hannay recognizes his theme music - it's the annoyingly catchy tune he hasn't been able to forget for days. Hannay puts two and two together and realizes that Mr. Memory is how the spies are smuggling the secrets out: he has them memorized. As the police take him into custody, he shouts out a question about the 39 Steps. When Mr. Memory compulsively begins to answer, Jordan shoots him and tries to flee, but is apprehended. The dying Mr. Memory recites the information stored in his brain, a design for silent aircraft, and Hannay and the girl stroll off, hand in hand.
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