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ARCHIVE REVIEWS Hitchcock Blonde
At Lyric Theatre
Review by Alan Bird
Terry Johnson’s ‘Hitchcock Blonde’ is receiving its world premiere at the Royal Court theatre. Johnson has twice won the Olivier award for Best Comedy for his plays ‘Hysteria’ and ‘Cleo, Camping, Emmanuel and Dick’. I suspect he may be receiving another award for ‘Hitchcock Blonde’, a suspense drama/comedy about unsatisfied desire, murder, mid-life crises and passion.
From this simple beginning a fascinating story begins to unravel of unrequited love and passion. We watch as love and desire change into obsession, hatred, revenge and even homicidal rage. The stage design by William Dudley is a masterpiece of video technology. Images of a Greek villa and a trailer home, to name a few, are projected on to white screens to create great visual effects. There is also the use of a projector to cast an image of a naked woman onto a flow of water from a shower, capturing the transient nature of the sexual longing that runs throughout this play.
The attractive Rosamund Pike (of James Bond fame) plays the beautiful captivating ‘Blonde’ a woman who seeks stardom and security. Whether she is stripping to seduce Hitchcock or hitting her husband with an iron, she wraps her character in a naive innocence born out of desperation. The star of the show is however William Hootkins as ‘Hitch’. Whether he is describing the delights of Dover Sole, swallowing baked custards whole or testing for signs of life by stabbing corpses, he remains impassive throughout. He plods around the stage with arms as stiff as pokers hanging from his sides and his large eyes have an enigmatic gaze. When Blonde tries to seduce him, he shakes with anticipation whilst spurning her advances, stating with the same emotionless voice “To touch is to court disaster”. A play full of suspense, longing and dark humour!
Alan Bird (Production photos by Gautier Deblonde)
 Next Review by Jonathan Richards Terry Johnson’s new play, Hitchcock Blonde, which receives its premiere at the Royal Court Theatre is the kind of theatrical perfection which feels more like an event than a piece of theatre. There is William Dudley’s highly inventive and clever design which makes extraordinary use of video and computer projection and the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs’ small stage. There is the sublime acting from the entire cast (William Hootkins as Hitch and Fiona Glascott as Nicola are particularly noteworthy.) And there is Terry Johnson’s original, intelligent and witty script (which he also directs with detail and a flair for humour). They all combine to form a unique, thought-provoking, funny and touching work of art. Unmissable.
(Jonathan Richards)
PETER HEPPLE for THE STAGE says, "The plotting is often puzzling but there is plenty of entertainment among the thrills" MICHAEL BILLINGTON for THE GUARDIAN says, "It pleasurably combines Hitchcock's eerie romanticism with a study in erotic obsession." CHARLES SPENCER for DAILY TELEGRAPH says, "It's ambitious, ingenious and intriguing." PAUL TAYLOR for THE INDEPENDENT says, "This is an ambitious project, but not a patch on Johnson's greatest hits." BENEDICT NIGHTINGALE for THE TIMES says, "Prepare yourself for plenty of educated fun." DOMINIC MAXWELL for TIME OUT says, "Dazzlingly clever and often wonderfully funny." External links to full reviews from popular press
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The story concerns Alex a lecherous media lecturer who claims to be going through a mid-life crisis and seeks solace in the young female students who pass through his media course. When he discovers some old movie reams of Hitchcock’s very early work he persuades Nicola, one of his more vulnerable students to spend her summer vacation with him in Greece working on saving as many frames as possible from the movie reams. What they discover in the frames are pictures of a mysterious blonde woman starring in a movie that Hitchcock never finished.
The acting is as mesmerising as the play itself, and all the cast give exceptional performances. Fiona Glascott plays the role of Nicola with energy and zest. Her sharp barbed comments about lascivious old men and “overweight retards from a council home” are delivered with sting and exceptional timing. David Haig is charming and polished and yet also deceitful and cruel as Alex. One does not know whether to despise or pity his character. Alex is consumed by two passions, the first for Hitchcock and his movies, the other for young Blondes.