Sun. Oct. 14

 Last day!

Hitchcock's "The 39 Steps" re-envisioned as a comedy? Why not? Everything's open for spoof and this production at the Huntington Theatre - the US premiere on an acclaimed London play - is a hoot. In many ways. Some corny, some sly, a lot slapstick. It's set in 1935, where Richard Hannay (played by Charles Edwards, who created the role in London), is a bored, albeit dashing, chap, wishing some excitement would enter his life. It does so in the person of Anabella Schmidt (Jennifer Ferrin). He meets her at a theater, he brings her home and she drops mysterious hints about a nation-threatening secret called "the 39 Steps." She goes to bed - he falls asleep in his living room chair - and then returns to the living room ... with a knife in her back. Fearing he would be the main suspect, Hannay flees town, winding up in Scotland, dodging police and trying to decode the secret. There are plenty of Hitchcock references dropped. The "Psycho" shower scene (complete with Bernard Herrmann strings), talk of a lady vanishing, strangers meeting on a train ... even a glimpse of Hitch's silouette on the moors. Only four actors portray the myriad of characters in "The 39 Steps," and sometimes the character switch is as brazen as someone donning a new hat and accent. This is self-consciously old-school, with low-budget, use-your-imagination sets and a certain over-the-top attitude - some of these folks seem to have stepped out of a Monty Python skit - that never lets this murder mystery-spy story get too serious. This work was adadpted for the stage by Patrick Barlow from the film and book and is directed by Maria Aitken. Tickets: $75-$15.  The run is about to end. It's got just one more show, today, Sunday Oct. 14 at 2.

264 Huntington Ave., 617-265-0800 www.huntingtontheatre.org