A different direction
New Zealand Listener|October 29, 2022
How a screen-to-stage adaptation of classic thriller North by Northwest challenged the cast and creators behind the new Auckland Theatre Company production. b
RUSSELL BAILLIE
A different direction

The 20th-century films of Alfred Hitchcock keep coming back as 21st-century stage productions. For some, that makes perfect sense as they were theatrical works first the director’s movies of Rope, Dial M for Murder and Blackmail all started out as plays. Today, Dial M for Murder is still doing the rounds in productions taking their cues from the film and Blackmail has also been revived. Some, like a stage version of The Birds, went back to the source material of the Daphne du Maurier short story.

As well, there have been plays about the master of suspense himself and his proclivities, such as David Rudkin’s The Lovesong of Alfred J Hitchcock and Terry Johnson's Hitchcock Blonde.

The most successful stage reimagining of a Hitchcock film has been The 39 Steps, which has been performed around the world since first becoming a hit in London’s West End in 2006. It sent up the British stiffness of the 1935 movie and all things Hitchcock with just four actors playing dozens of roles.

After Melbourne producers Andrew Kay and Liza McLean brought The 39 Steps to Australia for a second time, they wondered what else in the director’s back catalogue might work.

They chose North by Northwest, despite a screen-to-stage translation presenting some possible, well, hitches. If there’s a Hitchcock movie that is least like a play, this was it.

The 1959 film is a story of planes, trains and automobiles. It has stop-offs at the United Nations in New York, Chicago, Mt Rushmore, anda dusty cornfield in the middle of nowhere where the hero gets buzzed by a biplane until it crashes into a truck. It ends with an actual cliff-hanger. None of this exactly suggests intimate theatre production.

It’s also a movie with two stars Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in career-defining, fabulously handsome roles.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 29, 2022-Ausgabe von New Zealand Listener.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 29, 2022-Ausgabe von New Zealand Listener.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS NEW ZEALAND LISTENERAlle anzeigen
First-world problem
New Zealand Listener

First-world problem

Harrowing tales of migrants attempting to enter the US highlight the political failure to fully tackle the problem.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024
Applying intelligence to AI
New Zealand Listener

Applying intelligence to AI

I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024
Nazism rears its head
New Zealand Listener

Nazism rears its head

Smirky Höcke, with his penchant for waving with a suspiciously straight elbow and an open palm, won't get to be boss of either state.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024
Staying ahead of the game
New Zealand Listener

Staying ahead of the game

Will the brave new world of bipartisanship that seems to be on offer with an Infrastructure Commission come to fruition?

time-read
4 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024
Grasping the nettle
New Zealand Listener

Grasping the nettle

Broccoli is horrible. It smells, when being cooked, like cat pee.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024
Hangry? Eat breakfast
New Zealand Listener

Hangry? Eat breakfast

People who don't break their fast first thing in the morning report the least life satisfaction.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024
Chemical reaction
New Zealand Listener

Chemical reaction

Nitrates in processed meats are well known to cause harm, but consumed from plant sources, their effect is quite different.

time-read
4 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024
Me and my guitar
New Zealand Listener

Me and my guitar

Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024
Time is on my side
New Zealand Listener

Time is on my side

Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?

time-read
7 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024
The kids are not alright
New Zealand Listener

The kids are not alright

Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.

time-read
4 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024