North by Northwest is a rare project for me. Usually, I work on shows that haunt my dreams and tickle my soul, but this thrilling project was brought to me by someone else - like a rare bird falling out of the sky and landing smack bang in my lap! And when it did, I picked it up gently, marveled at its splendour and held on tight. Sometimes fate has a wonderful way of guiding you, and this surprise gift has done just that. North by Northwest has made me think in new ways and write in new ways. It has now entered my dreams and nestles in my soul, right alongside my most beloved of projects.  

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Of the many pleasures I have indulged working on this production, I have loved getting to grips with Hitchcock’s incredible mind. He is one of the greatest storytellers of all time and I wonder at the way he uses glamour, sexual tension, intricate plotting and complex characters to make the cogs of his super-stylish worlds turn. For once, I have had to leave my emotions at the door and dust off my hibernating thriller brain. And it’s been such a buzz! My Dad was an avid thriller reader and, when I struggled with the weight of my compulsory English literature education, he would slip a Dick Francis, Carl Hiaasen or Sara Paretsky onto my bedside table. Set free from the grind of the curriculum, I would race through the pages, gripped by that simple but vital question for any storyteller… what happens next? North by Northwest is a fiendish Rubik’s cube of a show but it grips and motors like nothing else.

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This mathematical masterpiece, however, is no empty vessel of cleverness. Oh no. This film tiptoes through the post-war landscape, exploring the damage that war can do both politically and personally - daring to hope for a better world. It explores themes and ideas agonisingly relevant today.  Who are we as a society? it asks. Who should we believe? What kind of a world do we want to live in? This is terrifying and pressing stuff and proves that this enduring story resonates to this day.  As we teeter on the edge of another world war on European soil and try to understand a new political order, this Hitchcock icon helps us remember and perhaps learn from history. The themes are scary, yes, but theatre helps us reflect on the unthinkable in a collective and mercifully safe space – and all this with a dry martini and a laugh.

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I hope you enjoy watching North by Northwest as much as we have enjoyed making it. Get your drinks on pre-order and prepare for a great (and I hope thought-provoking) night out!