Rosamund Pike Hitchcock Blonde

In September Theatre studies group and I went to see Hitchcock Blonde by Terry Johnson at the Lyric Theatre, Shaftsbury Avenue, which was originally staged at The Royal Court. We sat in to Dress Circle of the theatre and I sat in the middle so I saw everything that happened onstage. The production concept is that it explores the work of Alfred Hitchcock, also it shows the relationships of middle-aged men with younger “blonde” women be it a body double (Hitch), and University student (Alex) showing both male characters have some of the same characteristics.

Throughout the play the two stories become intertwined and it explores the blend of sex, fantasy and film and it also shows the blending of film within theatre, in the scenes on the film set used as well normal stage lighting used huge film lights, the angles on the top of the stage and the film strip at the top of the white backdrops showing links of film and theatre and the use of a thin gauze at the start of the play showing that the truth is being revealed.

The performance of the actors were O. K. ut I think that Hitch who was played by William Hootkins was too much of a caricature for my liking especially as when he was walking he waddled like a penguin which normal people don’t do but I must compliment him on his accent and it was very Hitchcock-esque and also the Blonde who was played by Rosamund Pike, the monologues she performed were far too slow and the myself and the rest of the audience lost interest but she was a very stereotypical fifties actress, she was tall, blonde and elegant and a typical “dumb” blonde but also did not see much of her relationship with her husband.

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Dumb Blonde Monologues

Alex played by David Haig was very good and consistent performance he also had a good stage presence, I also think that his performance was very effective. His relationship with Nicola started off as a teacher-student relationship then as soon as they arrive in Kalithia their relationship becomes more serious and of a sexual nature.

Nicola was played by Fiona Glascott and I think that her performance was OK but there were a few faults in her performance, the relationship with Alex was the same as Alex’s relationship with her but once he had got what he wanted he didn’t want anything to with her but Nicola was wanting to love him all the time and it was unrequited love.

The design concept was that the play was staged on a Proscenium Arch Stage, the stage itself had a hydraulic trap door which introduced us to Hitch and the Blonde, the production constantly used projections onto the white backdrops with emphasises my point of which blends film and theatre also the image of the naked woman onto the flow of the water which comes from the shower, which captures the transient nature of sexual longing that runs throughout the play, the window in Alex’s room at the start of play showed that it was a massive nineteen-sixties university building, the stage hands which were dressed as movers on a film set links theatre and film once again. The swimming pool and shower in the set of the villa links it with Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’. Props for both of Hitch’s ‘eating’ scenes are shown onstage by the props used, firstly Hitch is sitting on an unplumbed toilet and sitting at a table with film reels and other things on the table showing he is on a film set and when is eating in his house it is more elegant, proper padded seats and the table is set properly with candleholders, cutlery and wine glasses.

The Blonde lives in a trailer park with her husband which is shown by projections of a window looking out onto other trailers. The swift scenes changed are made by the use of the hydraulic trap door to bring up tables and chairs. Also when Alex shines light in Nicola’s eyes it shows methods of police interrogation, I think the play was both had elements of symbolism and realism, realism because the different locations of the play were very specific created by the projections. The costume was very effective for all three time periods especially in the fifties because the Blonde’s dress in the scene in Hitch’s house was very elegant and Hitch’s suit was very in keeping with the time as were of the periods but this period really stands out in my mind.

The moods and atmospheres of the play were created by use of music and lighting and also the by the tension created onstage, an example of this would be when the music from ‘Psycho’ was used and also the moments between the Blonde and her husband. The dramatic shape was created by elements of tension and suspense created when in my view was Nicola taking the tweezers and audience’s first impression was that she was going for Alex but we later find out that she cuts up herself. The music used from ‘Psycho’ was used to create tension to very good effect especially when Blonde’s husband stubs out his cigarette, music is used to make you think he is going to do something really bad.

The lighting effects used in the play were used very well like huge film studio lights were used to create the studio effect also a spotlight was shone on the film reel that Alex gets out of the filing cabinet to shows to Nicola which was the supposed work of Hitchcock which later was uncovered to be the remains of one of his actresses also the light from the projector which the Blonde shone in the eyes of her husband is quite impressive how they can achieve that and probably used one of the big film studio lights offstage (stage left). In all I think that the set design and concept are very effective to put across the central issues and the main themes of the play.