It may be a fun ride, but this adaptation of Hitchcock’s perfect thriller is more a caricature than an homage.

When screenwriter Ernest Lehman penned the 1959 screenplay for North by Northwest, he set out to create what he described as “the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures.” The collaboration between Lehman and Alfred Hitchcock, the legendary British director and producer dubbed “the master of suspense”, resulted in a film of unrivalled technical audacity, pushing the boundaries of filmmaking to its limits.

Indeed, this unflinching bravado infuses almost every facet of the film, from its daring plot of mistaken identity, seduction and espionage, to the glaringly unnatural suaveness of its debonaire dialogue. Yet for all its narrative absurdities and dubious characterisations, this film is the epitome of Hitchcock’s flair for sleek, sophisticated escapism, circumnavigating his audience’s disbelief with the sheer thrill of his directorial wizardry.  

And therein lies the biggest hurdle facing an adaptation of this film for the stage: Hitchcock’s magic is innately anchored to its cinematic medium. Ensuring the audience’s experience is as precisely guided in a live re-enactment as it is in its original on-screen guise is no mean...