Patrick Barlow's Olivier Award winning stage adaptation, based on John Buchan's gripping whodunit - memorably fi lmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1935 - played for nine years at the Criterion Theatre in the West End. The 39 Steps, Abridged and The 39 Steps, Even More Abriged are shorter versions of the play at 60 and 40 minutes respectively. They speed along but never miss any of the comic brilliance and thrilling moments of the full-length play. The shorter versions feature the most loved and legendary scenes including the chase on the Flying Scotsman, the escape on The Forth Bridge, the fi rst theatrical bi-plane crash ever staged and the death-defying (or nearly!) fi nale at the London Palladium! With four actors playing a minimum of one hundred and thirty-nine roles, it's the most astonishing theatrical tour de force of the year.