A spoof of an Alfred Hitchcock film, The 39 Steps has always made a virtue of its low-fi approach.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy for a small independent company such as Hearth Theatre to pull off, however. Indeed their production doesn’t always click, especially in the first act which drags at times. Even so, inventive stagecraft and the cast’s energetic commitment deliver lots of laughs in what is ultimately an entertaining romp.

Charlie Cousins and Sorab Kaikobad in The 39 Steps. Photo © Cameron Grant

Based on Hitchcock’s 1935 espionage thriller The 39 Steps, which itself was an adaptation of John Buchan’s 1915 novel of the same name, this play was first performed in English village halls in 1996.

Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon’s script was rewritten by Patrick Barlow for a more ambitious 2005 production, which nevertheless maintained the original’s raw approach. The cast of four use often highly adaptive props on a simple set, and two of them play nearly all the 100-or-so characters.

Playing the West End, then Broadway and elsewhere around the world (in Melbourne Theatre Company’s 2008 season, for example), The 39 Steps has won several awards including...