Final rehearsals are underway as a Chester theatre prepares to stage its first production of 2025.

Chester Little Theatre will stage a comical re-telling of Alfred Hitchcock's thriller, 'The 39 Steps', from Saturday 11 January to Saturday 18 January at 7.30pm.

The production will be directed for Chester Little Theatre by Lexie Fox-Hutchings.

Based on Alfred Hitchcock's classic film adaptation of the John Buchan novel, this fast-paced version, adapted for the stage by Patrick Barlow, was first performed at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in 2005.

The original London production opened at the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn in 2006 and later that year transferred to the Criterion Theatre in the West End. 

Described as a classic Hitchcock thriller mixed with a dash of Monty Python, 'The 39 Steps' is packed with over 150 characters played by a cast of just four actors, an onstage plane crash, handcuffs, missing fingers and some good old-fashioned romance. 

The production will run from Saturday 11 January to Saturday 18 January at 7.30pm (Image via: Chester Little Theatre)

Director, Lexie Fox-Hutchings, said: "As much as I love directing theatre now, the idea of being a director didn't occur to me for a long time.

"I would enjoy watching shows and being involved in productions wherever I could, but I didn't feel the spark of inspiration that compels people to take on the directing of an entire production.

"This all changed about eight years ago when I saw a production of 'The 39 Steps' that made me realise that if I could direct plays like this then I definitely wanted to direct theatre.

"Now, all this time later, I'm delighted to be revisiting the play that started this journey!"

You can buy tickets here, where you can find details of the performance and upcoming shows at Chester Little Theatre.