SPEED is of the essence with The 39 Steps in which stiff-upper-lip Englishman Richard Hannay thwarts a dastardly German espionage plot.

John Buchan’s picaresque adventure story, published exactly a century ago, proceeds at a cracking pace – a page-turner before the term was invented.

Alfred Hitchcock’s film version of 20 years later set the template for the hell-for-leather chase movie and when Patrick Barlow translated this to the stage, adding a well-judged comic element, it was noted that the play, too, fairly rattled along.

During its nine-year West End run, which ended in September, its 100-minute running time left audiences good time for dinner. Publicity for ElevenOne Theatre’s production at the Mathematics Institute this week promised the same length.

But the show lasts 20 minutes longer, owing in part to less than snappy adjustments to the minimalist sets and a leisurely approach to narrative from director Mike Taylor.

This is particularly apparent post-interval when the scenes between Hannay and Pamela Edwards (Bayley Eyley), the woman to whom be becomes handcuffed, drag dreadfully.

Tightened up, as it easily might be, the production could be hailed as another hit for ElevenOne, with excellent acting from the five-strong cast and imaginative staging in which a pair of metal trestles play a prominent role.

Rarely off the stage, Tim Younger does splendid work as action hero Hannay, with his quartet of colleagues in the other parts.

Given the play’s setting north of the border, many of these require near impenetrable Scottish accents. Peter Sheward and Helen Kavanagh are especially funny as Mr and Mrs McGarrigle. Adi Himpson’s transformation into a Tiger Moth aircraft is a fine touch – a credit to the design team, as is his later appearance as a flock of sheep.

His camp BBC announcer also hits the spot.

Until Saturday.

3/5