The 39 Steps is a comic play involving some interesting numbers - 100, 139 and 4 being the key ones. 100 is the number of minutes the fast-paced, award-winning comedy is on stage; 139 is the number of roles that feature in the script... and 4 refers to the total number of actors involved!

This gripping comedy thriller originally started off as a melodrama, invented by John Buchan for his 1915 novel. Film fans will remember it as a 1935 film by Alfred Hitchcock, however it was Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon's 1995 production in Yorkshire that turned it into a four-actor show. Patrick Barlow rewrote this adaptation in 2005, and it's been running in the West End of London since 2006, winning an Olivier Award for Best Comedy, and other prestigious accolades too. The show has been seen by over 3 million people now!

The 39 Steps follows the incredible adventures of our handsome hero Richard Hannay, complete with stiff-upper-lip, British gung-ho and pencil moustache as he encounters dastardly murders, double-crossing secret agents, and devastatingly beautiful women.

The play's concept calls for the entirety of the 1935 story to be performed with a cast of only four. One actor plays Richard, whilst an actress (or sometimes actor) plays the three women with whom he has romantic entanglements. Two other actors play every other character in the show: heroes, villains, men, women, children and even the occasional inanimate object!

With over 100 roles to fill, the 'four actor' rule often requires lightning quick changes from the cast and, occasionally, for an actor to play multiple characters at once. Thus the film's serious spy story ends up being played for laughs.

Here's a video in which Patrick Barlow explain more:

The show runs at the Criterion Theatre (near Piccadilly Circus in London) on Mondays to Saturdays at 8pm, with matinees on Wednesday and Saturdays too. To find out more about the show and book tickets visit www.love39steps.com

We've got 5 pairs of tickets to give away. Competition