FREEPORT — Freeport Players will present “The 39 Steps” from July 19-Aug. 4, at Freeport Performing Arts Center. Four actors play dozens of characters in this fast-paced comedy and homage to thrillers and film noire based on the classic Hitchcock film of the same name.

Set in the late 1930s, Freeport Players’ production stars Christopher Holt as Richard Hannay, the rakishly handsome Englishman with the pencil-thin mustache whose evening at the theater embroils him in murder and international intrigue. Chelsea Cook plays Annabella, the darkly mysterious woman who involves Hannay in the plot; innocent Scottish lass Margaret; and independent Pamela, whom Hannay drags into the action.

Eric Worthley and Bill McDonough round out the cast, playing the dozens of characters Hannay encounters in his flight across England and Scotland to elude capture and unravel the secret of The 39 Steps. The cast is directed by Daniel Burson.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and at 2 p.m. Sundays. Freeport Performing Arts Center is at 30 Holbrook Street. There will be a special pay-what-you-want preview at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 18. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Advance tickets are available at www.fcponline.org or at the Freeport Community Center Thrift Store, Depot Street.