This is a stage adaptation of one of Alfred Hitchcock’s finest films NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959).
The adaptation is by Carolyn Burns and has been directed by her husband Simon Phillips, one of Australia’s leading directors.
This is not a new production. It premiered at the Arts Centre Melbourne in 2015 and has subsequently played sold out seasons in Adelaide, Brisbane, Toronto and the United Kingdom.
It is a fair question to ask, how can one possibly put Hitchcock’s film onto the stage.? The film has so many different locations as well as varying arresting visual images.
The answer is that it is artfully managed through the shorthand language of theatre and the deft use of video when required. Examples include grouped office chairs becoming a police car, a sofa with headlights becomes an out of control Mercedes, and the legendary climactic scenes are staged via a mix of furniture.
This is a hugely entertaining show that proves you how adaptable theatre is. So much of it is in the staging.
Music often adds to the theatrical experience and this is definitely the case in this production. Berhard Herrman’s very dramatic score for the film is used in the play with also the addition of original music by Ian McDonald.
The narrative sees good natured, fast living New York executive Roger O Thornhill’s life turned upside down when he is mistaken for a government agent, George Kaplan. The case or mistaken identity sees him hunted by ruthless spies in a break-neck journey involving the Feds, crop-dusting planes and a blonde femme fatale, Eve Kendall.
The ever reliable David Campbell has taken over from another fine actor Matt Day who was in the original production. Campbell is excellent.
As is Amber McMahon who plays his romantic foil. One of Australia’s finest comedic actors, McMahon’s career has bloomed since she was one of the original members of the Sydney Theatre Company’s (STC) Resident Actors Company which was established by then STC Artistic Director Robyn Nevin and continued under the stewardship of Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton.
Highly regarded stage and stage actor Bert LaBonté played the evil Vandamm and veteran thespian and comedic actor Genevieve Lemon played Roger’s overbearing mother, Mrs Thornhill.
Playing a myriad of characters throughout the production are Nicholas Bell, Berynn Schwerdt, Dorje Swallow, Kaeng Chan, Lachlan Woods, Sharon Millerchip, Tony Llewellyn Jones, Wadih Dona with Caroline Craig, Doug Hansell and Alex Rathgeber.
Recommend, NORTH BY NORTHWEST is playing a strictly limited season at the Lyric Theatre, Star City until Sunday 3rd April 2022.
http://www.northbynorthwesttheplay.com
Featured image : Amber McMahon and David Campbell in ‘North by Northwest’. Production photography by Daniel Boud.