'It's an absolute thrilling romp'

Best-known as a 1959 film starring Cary Grant, a new version of North By Northwest is coming to the Theatre Royal thanks to acclaimed director Emma Rice, who chats to JEFFREY DAVIES about this Hitchcock classic

- 

GLAMOUR, romance, jeopardy and a liberal sprinkling of tender truths. That's what West Country audiences can expect next week when the world premiere of Emma Rice's adaptation of Sir Alfred Hitchcock's North By Northwest visits the Theatre Royal Bath.

It would be strange, would it not, if in a city of seven million people, one man was never mistaken for another. But that is exactly what happens to Roger Thornhill, reluctant hero of North By Northwest, when a mistimed phone call to his mother lands him smack bang in the middle of a Cold War conspiracy. Now he's on the run, dodging spies, planes and a femme fatale who might not be all she seems.

Emma Rice takes on film legend Alfred Hitchcock in this riotously funny reworking that turns the original celebrated thriller on its head. With just six shape-shifting performers from Emma's Wise Children touring company, a fabulous '50s soundtrack and a lot of hats - this dazzling production plays 'with the heart, mind and soul.

Wise Children's ensemble cast are Mirabelle Gremaud as Anna, Patrycja Kujawska as Eva Kendall, Simon Oskarsson as Valerian, Katy Owen as The Professor, Karl Queensborough as Philip Vandamm and Ewan Wardrop as Roger Thornhill. Adapted and directed by Emma Rice, what can audiences of this co-production (by Wise Children, York Theatre Royal, HOME Manchester and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse) expect of the classic thriller North By Northwest?

"It's an absolute thrilling romp. It's completely tangled my brain because the plotting is so complicated as Alfred Hitchcock's plots always are. And Jeffrey, I really thought if I was going to put this enormous film on stage, it needs to be virtuosic. So, expect sharp wit, great choreography, some fantastic performances and some really theatrical swagger," Emma told me enthusiastically.