Set in the elegant and vibrant world of 1950s America, Wise Children’s production of the Alfred Hitchcock classic North By Northwest pops and crackles the thriller through a new lens, warping it via a lip synched Dennis Potter-esque delivered soundtrack and embracing broad bops of humour and dance, twisting it nad upping the ante on this humorously surreal and delightful yarn.
It’s a familiar tale, even if you haven’t seen the film there are certain cinematic tropes of mistaken identity, a web of deceit and femme fatale excitement that straps you in for an enjoyable ride. With a talented cast of six playing every character their energy keeps the show at breakneck speed, slowing only on occasion to break into surprising mimed songs or shatter the fourth wall and ensure the audience is up to speed on important plot points.
The smart employment of a Chorus character, narrating action and exposition with their own quirks and twitches, like a maestro in the maelstrom, feeds into a clowning element as an anchor around which the storm flies. The contemporary clown-like action sees broader humour mined amid spots of wisdom, while maintaining the peril that engages throughout, using the performers’ dance skills as a physicality that punctuates the pizzazz in the city and the threat of our protagonist’s pursuers.
It is a show of two halves however, with something of the first’s fast-paced thriller-humorous tone and rhythm interrupted in the latter part of the second as it steps into more of a straight-up thriller, which is slightly disorientating.
The setting is majestic and dynamic, with four giant revolving doors festooned with an array of 1950s-coloured bottles, acting as moveable partitions. And the iconic cornfield-chase and Mount Rushmore finale scenes are cleverly constructed so as to convey the expanse of the first and precipice of the second with full drama.
Director Emma Rice has taken liberties with the source material, but it has been around long enough to take it. What results is a fun romp cross country made large for the stage and embracing the flexibilities and electricity live performance affords. I can’t wait to see what classic Wise Children turn their attention to next.
Brighton Festival runs from May 3-26 at venues around the city.
