2015 sees the tenth anniversary of Patrick Barlow’s rollicking, farcical adaptation of this classic thriller, here served up by a talented, charming Rowntree Players cast of four.

Mark McDonald plays protagonist Richard Hannay; Sarah Howlett, elegantly tenacious love interests Annabella Schmidt, Margaret and Pamela; Teej Jackson, Clown 1 and Katie Brown, Clown 2.

McDonald is well-suited to our imperious, bombastic hero, making Hannay winning, even at his most obnoxious. One cannot help but see the good-hearted patriotism behind his blinkered, haphazard actions.

Howlett is especially impressive in her physical discipline, maintaining demanding poses and committing absolutely to setting scenes using bodily gestures.

A special mention must be made of the two clowns who pull off a challenging feat of performance perhaps more absorbing than Hannay’s own quest.

Brown carries off a tremendously comic half-audible speech with natural ease and your heart goes out to her understated presentation of the humble actor-within-an-actor, Mr Memory.

Jackson is outstanding in his myriad of characters; accents and ticks honed to perfection, he elevates every scene to the height of physical comedy with a studious attention to detail in the creation of each new guise.

Most notable are a pop-eyed, hunchbacked Scottish countryman delivering a suspicious pre-dinner prayer, and a tooth-whistling old hotelier-wife who is both deliciously absurd and, for a brief moment, deeply moving.

Convincingly leading an audience from laughter to pathos is not an easy task, but this is done fluidly, at times disconcertingly so. Gemma McDonald has clearly found a new strength in her directing debut. The production design is engaging and playful, and the interaction with props and costume is a delight.

Barlow's play is a joy for fans of Alfred Hitchcock, noir, parody and derring-do. This is theatre as it should be; resourceful, impressive and imaginative.

- Anna Rose James

The 39 Steps, Rowntree Players, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight and tomorrow at 7.30pm. Box office: 07927 026071