CRITIC'S PICK 2015
THE NEW YORK TIMES
TIME-OUT NEW YORK

WINNER!
2 2008 Tony® and Drama Desk Awards
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"THIS CENTURY'S MOST TIRELESS AND HIGH-PROFILE EXAMPLE OF THE LITTLE SHOW THAT COULD"

"DELIGHTFULLY DIZZY...VIRTUOSIC"..."GALLANT AND GIGGLY!"
–Ben Brantley, The New York Times, 2015

Download our new 2015 New York Times review.

"A UNIQUE PIECE OF SCREWBALL COMEDY"
-Entertainment Weekly, 2015

"A WELCOME REVIVAL"
-Time Out NY, 2015

"A PEOPLE-PLEASING SEND-UP."
"WHIMSICAL...EFFORTLESS...
A FINELY-TUNED ENSEMBLE"
-Robert Kahn, NBC New York, 2015


“THEATER AT ITS FINEST.”
–Ben Brantley, The New York Times, 2008
“ABSURDLY ENJOYABLE! THIS GLEEFULLY THEATRICAL RIFF ON HITCHCOCK'S FILM IS FAST AND FROTHY, PERFORMED BY A CAST OF FOUR THAT SEEMS LIKE A CAST OF THOUSANDS.”
–Ben Brantley, The New York Times, 2008

Download the original 2008 New York Times review.

“THE MOST ENTERTAINING SHOW ON BROADWAY!”
–Liz Smith, The New York Post

“INGENIOUS! A DIZZY DELIGHT!”
–Joe Dziemianowicz, Daily News

“RIOTOUS & MARVELOUS!”
–Clive Barnes, The New York Post

“WHIRLWIND FUNNY BUSINESS!”
–Michael Sommers, The Star-Ledger

“A GIDDY DISPLAY OF THEATRICAL INVENTION WITH A CRACKERJACK CAST!”
–David Rooney, Variety

“COMEDY OF THE HIGHEST ORDER!”
–Roma Torre, NY1

“ABOUT THE CLEVEREST SHOW ON
BROADWAY IN A LONG TIME!”
–David Richardson, WOR Radio

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Winner! BEST NEW COMEDY
Laurence Olivier Award 2007

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"Rollicking Fun! Hugely Entertaining!"
-Sunday Times

"Clever, very funny, imaginative and brilliantly acted!"
-The Guardian

"Dizzyingly entertaining show!"
-A Daily Telegraph

"A wonderful triumph of theatre!"
-BBC Radio 4

APRIL 1, 2015

Finding the Farce in Hitchcock, Again,
‘The 39 Steps’
Ben Brantley, The New York Times

The modest double digits in its title don’t begin to capture the exponentially increasing numbers conjured by “39 Steps,” in previews at the Union Square Theater. Since its British debut a decade ago, this delightfully dizzy little play — adapted from “The 39 Steps,” the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film about love (and espionage) on the run — has divided and multiplied itself in ways that would shame an amoeba. It features a cast of four playing 150 characters, who pursue, run from and deceive one another on a basically bare stage that somehow feels incredibly crowded.

Still running in London’s West End, where it opened in 2006, the play has been seen in more than 20 countries, with a whopping Broadway run of 771 performances (that ended in 2010). Now it returns with its original director, Maria Aitken, and a quarter of its original four-member Broadway cast, the frantically industrious Arnie Burton, who one hopes has had a good rest in the interim.

Opens April 13,
Union Square Theater
100 East 17th Street


©2008. The 39 Steps. All Rights Reserved.