Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 classic "North by Northwest" "really ought to be unstageable", said Patrick Marmion in the Daily Mail. The film is about a slick Manhattan ad man who's mistaken for a spy, and pursued across America in a chase that features trains, planes and automobiles, and culminates on the summit of Mount Rushmore. But all this proves to be "just grist to the mill of director Emma Rice in her effortlessly chic new adaptation".
It shares some DNA with Patrick Barlow's stage version of Hitchcock's "The 39 Steps", said Ron Simpson on WhatsOnStage. There's the same "madcap switching of parts", clever use of props, and breaches of the fourth wall. "What it does not share is the comedy of incompetence." On the contrary, in Rice's show – which contains several song-and-dance numbers – one "finds oneself in awe at the slickness of timing between the actors", the sound and lighting design, and the "frequently glorious choreography".
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It's all "delightfully playful" and entertaining, agreed Arifa Akbar in The Guardian – but "there is not quite enough charge underneath", and the serious themes of "global crisis, security and the toxic legacies of war are raised rather too late, like an afterthought".
The show also lacks the jeopardy and sense of confinement that Hitchcock "brought to even the flippest moments", said Dominic Maxwell in The Times. Still, it is for the most part a really good ride – and at its best it is "glorious".
-
September 28 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday's political cartoons include the Jim Comey indictment and Pam Bondi as a the Wicked Witch of the West
-
Your Party: a Pythonesque shamblesTalking Point Comical disagreements within Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana's group highlight their precarious position
-
The Liberal Democrats: on the march?Talking Point After winning their highest number of seats in 2024, can the Lib Dems marry ‘stunts’ with a ‘more focused electoral strategy’?
-
6 rustic homes on ranchesFeature Featuring copper kitchen counters in Colorado and a 380-acre property in California
-
Steve: a ‘gripping’ drama starring Cillian MurphyThe Week Recommends Murphy plays the frazzled headmaster of a boarding school for ‘delinquent’ boys in this bold Indie film
-
The Lady from the Sea: a ‘thrillingly contemporary’ Ibsen adaptationThe Week Recommends ‘Luminous’ cast dazzle in Simon Stone’s ‘hugely enjoyable’ production
-
Black Rabbit: slick crime thriller set in a high-end New York restaurantThe Week Recommends Two Manhattan brothers resort to ‘ever-more high-stakes’ schemes to tackle ‘huge’ gambling debts in the ‘glossy’ series
-
One Battle After Another: a ‘terrifically entertaining’ watchThe Week Recommends Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest release is a ‘high-octane action thriller’ and a ‘surefire Oscar frontrunner’
-
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny: a novel of ‘undeniable power’The Week Recommends Kiran Desai’s first novel in nearly 20 years is an ‘enthralling love story’ set across India and the US
-
Color Theories: Julio Torres’ one-man showPerformance Space New York Performance Space New York
-
The 2025 Emmys: A big night for newcomersFeature The 77th Emmys were full of surprises, from shocking wins and moving speeches to a host’s charity stunt that backfired
