Spy Novel Meets Monty Python In Milford Area Players' Latest Production

Milford Area Players, winner of the 2008 and 2011 New Hampshire Theatre Award for Best Production in Drama/Comedy for Community Theatre, will present “The 39 Steps,” at the Amato Center for the Performing Arts, 56 Mont Vernon St., Route 13 in Milford.

Mix an Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have “The 39 Steps,” a fast-paced whodunit packed with non-stop laughs, more than 150 characters – played by a ridiculously talented cast of six – an on-stage plane crash, handcuffs, missing fingers and some good old-fashioned romance.

“The 39 Steps” is a Tony and Drama Desk award-winner with energetic performances and wildly inventive stagecraft.

In “The 39 Steps,” a man with a boring life meets a woman with a thick accent who says she’s a spy. When he takes her home, she is murdered. Soon, a mysterious organization called “The 39 Steps” is hot on the man’s trail in a nationwide manhunt that climaxes in a death-defying finale.

The cast of The 39 Steps includes Tim Lord of Brookline, Sarah Lord of Henniker, John Decareau of Manchester, Neal Blaiklock of Merrimack, Melanie Rodrigue of Nashua, and Sheryl Norton of Sandown. The play is directed by Larry Pizza and Kim Cassetta of Nashua.

“The 39 Steps” will be staged by the Milford Area Players for two weekends – Oct. 19-21 and Oct. 26-28, with shows on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

“The 39 Steps,” was written by John Buchan and adapted by Patrick Barlow, was labeled as the best show on Broadway by critics.

General admission tickets are $12 for adults, $7 for seniors 60 and older, and students. Advance tickets are available at Toadstool Bookshop and online at www.MilfordAreaPlayers.org. Tickets are also available at the door. The theater is air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible.

More information is available at www.MilfordAreaPlayers.org, on the Facebook group page at Milford Area Players, or by calling Vick Bennison at 566-2951.