There’s a certain way a classic femme fatale raises and lowers her eyes at the camera or tilts her head for a cinematic close-up.

And then there’s the walk.

"I never got to play a woman who really shakes her hips before," says Nicole Lowrance.

That’s changed this summer as Lowrance has been studying up on the kind of women that Alfred Hitchcock made iconic on screen. She plays three of them in Cape May Stage’s production of "The 39 Steps."

The play, which ran on Broadway for nearly 800 performances starting in 2008, is adapted by Patrick Barlow from the Hitchcock film, which is in turn based on a John Buchan novel. But instead of taking the spy story seriously, the play twists it into a comedy.

Lowrance single-handedly plays the three love interests whom leading man Richard Hannay tangles with while traversing the U.K. and saving London from destruction. One is the international spy Annabella Schmidt, who "literally has ba-boom ba-boom music underscoring her."

"It’s fun to be the woman that’s lusted after," Lowrance says with a laugh.

Besides Schmidt, Lowrance appears as an innocent Scottish wife and then the "his gal Friday" type Pamela, whom Hannay kisses on a train and who turns out to be his perfect match. Each has her own accent and distinctive mannerisms.

"I didn’t expect to have this much fun with … these classic stereotypes," Lowrance says.

"To also make them real, to find the body language and the difference between the characters, it’s been a lot more crafty than I thought — I’m getting to do some real character work."

Besides Lowrance, the small cast includes Mark Campbell, who appears in Broadway’s upcoming "Rebecca" musical, as Hannay. The play’s two clowns — who take on about 30 roles — are David Deblinger, a co-founder of LAByrinth Theater Company, and Ron Pireti, Officer Krupke in Broadway’s recent "West Side Story."

Audiences may know Lowrance from Broadway’s "Dividing the Estate" and from last summer’s production of "Steel Magnolias" with Cape May Stage. She has also performed "The Merchant of Venice" with the Royal Shakespeare Company and off-Broadway.

She had already agreed to take on another role this year in Cape May before knowing what the show would be, and describes the theater as "the best kept little secret."

When she found out that she would be in "The 39 Steps," "I felt like I fell into a pot of gold," she says.

Although she has made a point of avoiding the film, Lowrance saw "The 39 Steps" during its Broadway run and thought, "this is a love letter to bare-bones theater."

There’s a train chase, for example, that happens onstage and is shown mainly by the way the actors move their bodies. Hannay also has limited means to show that he is crossing over Scotland by plane, and a car turns based on the way the clowns shift their torsos. Lowrance calls the minimal approach half the challenge and half the appeal of putting on the show.

"We’re putting together a very complicated play," Lowrance says.

The cast has had only two weeks to prepare, but she remains unfazed. "We bonded after the first rehearsal and we’ve just been able to play very well with each other," she says.

"All these guys have been at the business a long time — we’re all game."

Ronni Reich: (973) 392-1726, rreich@starledger.com, Twitter: @RonniReich

The 39 Steps

Where: Robert Shackleton Playhouse, Bank and Lafayette streets, Cape May

When: Through Sept. 7. Tuesdays through Sundays at 8 p.m.

How much: $15 to $35; call (609) 884-1341 or visit capemaystage.com

Related Stories:

One strange trip: Experimental theater offers new ways to play

Into the spotlight - Versatile actress Jessie Mueller leaps to stardom in Central Park performance

Turning music into cheers - Blankenbuehler makes Broadway debut as a director with 'Bring It On: The Musical'