Review: The 39 Steps at the Lyceum, Sheffield

And though the versatile cast may number only four, and the set is little more than doors, chairs and steam, the quartet of actors in The 39 Steps do the work of thousands as they whisk their audience from London to Edinburgh to the Highlands and back in a breathless tour de force.

Over 100 rollercoaster minutes, rattling through no fewer than 139 comedic characters, the whistlestop play is a madcap masterclass in ingenious theatricality.

Tom Byrne – you may recognise him as Prince Andrew in season 4 of The Crown – is dashing as Richard Hannay, the jaded gent who stumbles into the derring-do adventure of a lifetime.

Safeena Ladha shines in each of her three leading lady roles, her enigmatic allure keeping both Hannay and the audience guessing until the very end.

Eugene McCoy and Maddie Rice exert boundless energy in their brace of supporting parts, embodying everyone from nefarious spies and Scots farmers to bumbling policemen.

The multi-award-winning play, which premiered in 2006, is a spoof adaptation of John Buchan’s timeless spy thriller and Hitchcock’s classic film.

It spent nearly 10 years on the West End, swept Broadway, and is now back out for another UK tour.

We last saw the production in Sheffield in 2008, and loved it so much we were excited to go again.

But what was memorable and uproarious 16 years ago did feel a tad less sparkling today.

Maybe humour changes over the years – or perhaps there have been several similar stage shows since where wobbly props and a broken fourth wall are used to poke fun at theatricality itself.

Some of the supporting characters – reminiscent of David Walliams or the League of Gentlemen – are showing their age, and some of the visual gags do tend to drag on a bit.

When, in Act 2, an exasperated Hannay instructs McCoy to get on with it. – as his co-star writhes in black latex to portray a puddle, a gorse bush and a stile – he speaks for us all.

Still. Alongside the zany humour lies genuine suspense, with all the twists, turns and tropes of a classic espionage thriller.

And the rapid-fire pacing, razor-sharp dialogue, and the unrelenting energy of the talented cast mean an evening of undeniable entertainment.

• The 39 Steps is at the Lyceum, Sheffield, until Saturday, May 4.