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Mix an Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of vintage Monty Python and you have 鈥淭he 39 Steps,鈥� a whodunit, part espionage thriller and part slapstick comedy, adapted for the stage from the famous film and novel.

Shots ring out across a crowded theater, luring Richard Hannay into a world of intrigue by a mysterious and glamorous woman claiming to be a spy. When she winds up dead in his flat, he flees London while the police chase him.

The sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Little Theatre is performing the Drama Desk and two-time Tony Award winner 鈥淭he 39 Steps鈥� from Friday, April 19, through May 5.

It鈥檚 the classic Hitchcock souffl茅 of an innocent man accused of a crime who must clear his name.

The authors pepper the show with gratifyingly groan-making visual, verbal and aural references to other Hitchcock films.

鈥淭here鈥檚 鈥楪o to the window,鈥� he says, asking which window,鈥� said director Henry Avery. 鈥淪he says, 鈥楾he rear window.鈥� A pilot says, 鈥業t鈥檚 north by northwest.鈥� 鈥�

A knife-wielding maniac lurks behind a shower curtain. Crop duster silhouettes pursue Hannay.

鈥淪trangers on a Train,鈥� 鈥淩ear Window,鈥� 鈥淣orth by Northwest鈥� and 鈥淭he Birds鈥� (one of the stage managers has feathery friends on her head and shoulders and on the sign she is holding) are among the references, played strictly for goofiness.

The concept calls for just four actors playing more than 150 characters, including chairs.

The cast members recreate a chase atop a speeding train, a suspension bridge, a windy Scottish moor, a London theater and a sprawling mansion.

If the plot sounds like it belongs to a certain British director, it does. But this version of Alfred Hitchcock鈥檚 1935 film noir classic gives the spy story a comedic twist.

It鈥檚 Monty Python-meets-Hitch.

The opening scene of this theatrical riff reflects today鈥檚 obsessions. The protagonist Richard Hannay is fed up with newspapers bearing tales of 鈥渆lections and wars and rumors of wars.鈥� He longs for 鈥渟omething mindless and trivial. Something utterly pointless.鈥� His jaw unclenches for a 鈥淓ureka!鈥� moment. 鈥淚 know!鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檒l go to the theater!鈥�

Cue the gunshots.

The play stars Brian Schaeffer as Hannay with Rachel Foster, Zane Ivey and Rob Armstrong Martin.

The parody was adapted from the 1915 novel by John Buchan, as well as the Hitchcock film. The original concept and production of a four-actor version of the story was written by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon, and premiered in 1996. Patrick Barlow rewrote this adaptation in 2005.