After collaborating on films such as Psycho, Vertigo and North by Northwest, director Alfred Hitchcock and composer Bernard Herrmann suddenly parted company, never to speak again. Hitchcock and Herrmann uses this as a basis to explore the filmic output of these two men over that creatively abundant period.
The piece was staged simply with the two men seated on opposite sides of the stage, each under a spotlight. From these positions they took turns in addressing the audience, never actually interacting with one another. It was as if they were being interviewed other from entirely different locations. This was an interesting tactic that played on the tension between the two after their falling out and not being on speaking terms. With this set up, the play was essentially separate monologues that interconnected, allowing a smooth switch from one to the other at key points.
The script itself detailed the projects the pair worked on with most of the factual data coming from Herrmann. Hitch’s text was a mixture of the background details and experiences associated with the featured films that often contradicted Bernard’s version creating additional funny moments. There were also a number of hilarious monologues relating to the works. Darkly humorous segments such as Alfred’s culinary views and his theories on the disposal of a body were a great way to break up the often dry recounting of the facts.
For students of Hitchcock’s career, the presented material would be quite familiar. All of these stories and anecdotes are part of Hollywood folklore and well documented elsewhere. The main interest would come from seeing these tales being recounted by rather accurate facsimiles of the participants. David Knijnenburg’s portrayal of Hitch was excellent. Dressed in a plain black suit with padding to replicate Alfred’s ample frame, he certainly looked the part. David was also able to accurately mimic his speech and accent, delivering all the lines in the familiar dry and deadpan manner. This helped immensely with the impact of his many hilarious comments.
The portrayal of Herrmann came across as more of a stereotypical Jewish man, dressed in a flashy suit and dropping the odd Yiddish comment with a New York accent. I must admit that I wasn’t overly familiar with how he should look and had only heard an overly hammy reenactment of one of his interviews on radio recently. For all I know, what I was hearing and seeing was probably accurate. While essentially the straight man, his persona of a musical genius, who frequently lets everyone know all about it, did add a humorous element to the character.
A number of excepts from Herrmann’s scores were inserted throughout Bernard’s monologues often accompanied by explanations of the pieces. This clearly demonstrated the musical aspects of the material that words could not quite explain. Occasionally the music itself was as a comedic tool through volume and editing. Opening night hitches aside, this was well done.
Those less familiar with the subjects would have the bonus of learning a great deal about the creative output of the two over the duration of their partnership. A lot of material is covered over the hour performance. My only criticism was that the promised analysis of the relationship breakdown is not really touched upon. To some people this failure to delve deeply into this issue may be a huge stumbling block. Personally I thought that the facts presented about the breakup spoke volumes of Hitchcock’s personality and to a lesser extent of Herrmann’s.
This was a wonderful show that would appeal to film buffs and casual punters alike. There was plenty to educate and amuse everyone.