Catherine McCormack, Charles Edwards,
Simon Gregor & Rupert Degas in The 39 Steps
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Rachel Pickup will replace Catherine McCormack in the West End’s comic stage version of
The 39 Steps. She begins in the role at the Criterion Theatre on 15 January.
Her father, actor Ronald Pickup, played Bayliss in the 1978 film version of The 39 Steps opposite Robert Powell. The actress’ credits include recently appearing as Helena in the RSC production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Helen of Troy in Troilus and Cressida. Other theatre roles include Portia in King Lear, also for the RSC and at the Lyric Hammersmith, Ophelia in Hamlet for Birmingham Rep. and The Fall Guy at Manchester’s Royal Exchange. Her television credits include Dogtown, Rosemary and Thyme, Holby City and Coupling.
Original cast members Rupert Degas, Charles Edwards and Simon Gregor remain in this adaptation of the John Buchan novel and Alfred Hitchcock film. In this version, written by Patrick Barlow and directed by Maria Aitken, four actors play a minimum of 150 characters between them, and it includes every scene from the legendary 1935 Hitchcock film version of the story, from the chase on the Flying Scotsman to the escape on the Forth Bridge and the finale at the London Palladium.