The 39 Steps: Hitchcock thriller at Levin Little Theatre for new director

Alfred Hitchcock in his 20s.

Matt Kilsby-Halliday has been on stage at Levin Little Theatre since he was 10, playing countless roles in musicals and plays ever since.

Now, at the age of 37, he has gone behind the curtain for the first time and will make his directing debut when The 39 Steps opens next week.

Kilsby-Halliday had never considered directing until he was in London in 2013 and saw a live showing of the play. The thought of directing that same play was tucked under his hat ever since.

Levin Little Theatre current play The 39 Steps represents a directing debut for Palmerston North-based Matt Kilsby-Halliday.

"I thought I want to do that show some day at Levin Little Theatre. I've been thinking about it for a long time," he said.

He got his hands on the script and convinced the LLT committee that it was a goer, and put himself forward as the director.

"I've had some really strong directors so it's handy to have had that experience and remembering their approach to things had helped," he said.

Kilsby-Halliday was quick to praise an experienced cast for their versatility, which had made his life easier. Dozens of characters are portrayed by a cast of just four performers in the play.

Alfred Hitchcock directed the 1935 thriller The 39 Steps, which has been made into a play of the same name, showing at Levin Little Theatre from Thursday.

"They're four pretty talented people and know what they're doing," he said.

The 39 Steps is a parody adapted from the 1915 novel by John Buchan and the 1935 film by Alfred Hitchcock. The play itself was described as a serious spy story with a less serious script.

Kilsby-Halliday had lived in Palmerston North for many years but has retained those close ties with Levin Little Theatre over the years.

He had been involved as an actor in "about 20" different shows at Levin Little Theatre since that first time on stage in The Christmas That Almost Wasn't, while he had the lead role in the hilarious Cold Front last year.

A scene from the Alfred Hitchcock-directed movie The 39 Steps.

The Cast:
Richard Hannay (Jeremy Skerman).
Annabella Schmidt/Margaret/Pamela (Tracey Bentall).
Clown 1 (Declan Leahy)
Clown 2 (Taylor Salton)

Production dates:
Thursday 31 March at 8pm
Friday 1 April at 8pm
Saturday 2 April at 8pm
Sunday 3 April at 2pm
Thursday 7 April at 8pm
Friday 8 April at 8pm
Saturday 9 April at 8pm
Sunday 10 April at 2pm
BOOKINGS: Online tickets at www.trybooking.co.nz/JMJ. Please call Nicola Reeves on 063682123 if you have any problems.
PRICES: Adults $20.00. Students $15.00.