Production — Hitchcock Blonde

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Hitchcock is known to the movie going community as a master of his craft but what if his motivations were not to create the perfect movie going experience but to continue his pursuit of the one that got away.

Terry Johnson's dark, adult themed drama offers up the theory that Hitchcock was spurned while still a novice filmmaker in 1919. A blonde bombshell attracted the budding director's gaze and hoped his intentions were legitimate rather than for a mere romp in the backlot. Her rejection and subsequent death set 'Hitch' on a voyeuristic journey that would take him to the fictionalized bedrooms of countless damsels in the hope his clumsy hands would find the flesh they so longed for.

We find 'Hitch' again in 1959 while filming the infamous shower scene in 'Psycho'. His eye has led him to a seemingly naive young woman hoping to break into the movie biz. When offered the role of naked body double, her vision of Hollywood clash with reality and its prismatic distortion cuts with indifference.

When in 1999, an aging film professor stumbles on the remains of Hitch's unfinished first excursions, he sees it not only as an opportunity to further his fame but also to garner the attention of a young co-ed that has shown the kind of promise only an aging film professor can conjure.

'Hitchcock Blonde' is Terry Johnson's exploration of a theory behind the drive of one of the world's greatest directors. The Seoul Players are proud to announce the immanent arrival of their latest production. In February of 2007, 'Hitchcock Blonde' comes to Seoul.

All performances take place at the theatre on campus at Hanyang University. Reachable via Hanyang University station on the green line and 15 minutes by car from Iteawon with parking beneath the theatre.

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Press article: Seoul Players Offer Dark Drama
‘Hitchcock Blonde’ Scheduled at Hanyang University for 3 Weeks

By Tony MacGregor, Contributing Writer
THE KOREA TIMES
January 30, 2007

The cast of “Hitchcock Blonde” includes, from left, Daami Cagney, Krista Sheen, Mathew Malone, Amanda Doucet and Thomas Sagnard.

On Thursday, the Seoul Players will open a three-week run of "Hitchcock Blonde’’ at Hanyang University. The show will be the 13th production of the amateur theater group and its first presentation in 2007.

The dark, adult-themed drama by Terry Johnson revolves around the theory that Hitchcock, perhaps the world’s most famous horror movie producer, was spurned by a blonde beauty who attracted his gaze while he was still a novice filmmaker.

Her rejection of him and her subsequent death drove Hitchcock on a voyeuristic journey making movies that would take him to the fictionalized bedrooms of countless damsels in the hope his clumsy hands would find the flesh they so longed for.

A complex play for an amateur group? The Seoul Players proved in the past that they could rise to the occasion. People are still talking about one of their most successful productions, "The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged)’’ in November 2002.

A cast and crew of about 15 people have been working on this latest production for four months, and they expect several hundred people to attend during its three-week run.

Jonathan Sharrock, an Australian business executive, president of the group and the producer of "Hitchcock Blonde,’’ said there is a great thirst for English theater in the expatriate community.

"Amongst English-theater-starved expats, English-speaking Koreans and Koreans keen to improve their English, there is tremendous demand for English-language theatre in Seoul. We even have people on our mailing list who live outside of Seoul who make the special trip into the city to see plays,’’ he said in an e-mail interview.

The Seoul Players have a core committee of about eight and a fluctuating group of actors, crewmembers and volunteers.

Founded in November 2001 by Australian expatriate Roman Zolnierczyk, the group has attracted Australian, British, Canadian and New Zealand members.

Their first show, "I Do Not Like Thee, Dr. Fell,’’ was staged in May 2002, coinciding with the World Cup in Korea.

Sharrock said the group is looking for Korean volunteers. "We have had Korean volunteers in the past and are always looking for more. We often need Korean-language skills to communicate with printers and theater owners. We haven't had many Korean actors on stage yet, but we will await them at our next audition,’’ he said.

He said the thing driving the volunteer actors is their love of theater and the chance to engage the audience in their craft. "Since the Seoul Players is a volunteer organization, it is also exciting for actors to see who they will be performing and working with and what kinds of production we have chosen.’’

He said the biggest challenge facing the group is the constant change in membership as people leave for new postings or return to their home countries.

"Hitchcock Blonde’’ will be performed in the Alumni Building theater at Hanyang University near Hanyang Univ. Station on subway line 2. For more information, visit www.seoulplayers.com or e-mail seoulplayers@gmail.com.

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Press article: When Hitchcock and Theater Collide

By Andrea Mohammed, Contributing Writer
KOREA TIMES
February 6, 2007

Seoul Players’ interpretation of “Hitchcock Blonde” offers intrigue, Freudian inferences and laughter.

When the world of film and theatre collide, expect a spectacle. When we’re talking about Alfred Hitchcock, add intrigue and multiple variations of Freudian inference, and you have the potential for a super explosion.

Craig McGeady’s interpretation of Terry Johnson’s play, ``Hitchcock Blonde’’ is a curious, at times humorous offering to Seoul’s English theatre world.

This is a play that is best enjoyed with some background, perhaps with a viewing knowledge of Hitch’s best works such as ``Psycho,’’ ``Vertigo,’’ and ``Rear Window’’ with their hugely complex and highly Freudian themes.

The three basic pairs in the play are the novice actress of slasher porn and a fledgling filmmaker circa 1919, Hitchcock at the height of his career filming the famous shower scene in Psycho in 1960 with an aspiring actress, and lastly a film professor and a his female protégé who seek to decipher the story of old, mysterious film reels in the light of today’s world.

Each dramatic pairing mirrors one another, following each other as they descend and at times ascend a spiral of deception and exploitation.

Hitchcock’s films have always conjured up blondes as femmes fatales, who are for the most part punished for their intrigues. Johnson’s play briefly turns the tables on Hitch’s themes, only to arrive at the same conclusion:

“Blondes make the best victims. They’re like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints.”

-Alfred Hitchcock

Without revealing too much, survival seems to always be found in a change of hair color, and the reversal of roles. Virtue, cowardice, and exploitation flourish in this cast of anti-heroes.

The staging is well done, switching from a tropical island to a film set. The clever use of

stage setting reveals director McGeady’s film and photography background.

In particular, when the professor and his protégé examine film strips, lights dim to reveal images projected behind them. In contrast, the transitional use of black-outs between scenes were too long, and broke the flow of the play.

Another problematic area was Amanda Doucet’s role as ``The Blonde.’’ While a pivotal role, her performance fails to impress. Her accent is inconsistent and distracting and she is upstaged by Mathew Malone’s solid Hitchcock.

Malone manages to capture the director in every gesture and line. Krista Sheen and Daami Cagney deliver depth and complexity, but it is Sheen’s performance that lingers and provides the most intrigue.

The use of nudity in the play is daring and discrete, given Korea’s conservative environment. This made the play unique and contrasted with Hitchcock’s films, which were known for hinting at nudity, but never revealing it explicitly onscreen.

The play excites interest, but fails to maintain suspense. This is a key element for a play that invokes the films of one of cinema’s great masters of the genre. While Hitchcock Blonde draws on both film and theatre sensibilities, it seems uncertain of itself.

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[Drama review] Seoul Players excel with 'Hitchcock Blonde'

By Jillian Ong
KOREA HERALD
February 13, 2007

Flowers, heart-shaped candy and cutesy balloons. If, like many of us, you've OD'd on all the love that's in the air, seek refuge in the Seoul Players' latest offering, "Hitchcock Blonde." This well-executed production explores the themes of fantasy and power, where self-centered men prefer their dreams to reality, and neurotic, needy women make the perennial mistake of offering sex in the hopes of getting love.

It is 1959, and a struggling actress (the Blonde) is trying to get acclaimed film director Alfred Hitchcock's attention, pacing the stage in no more than a petticoat and bra. She is hoping that a starring role in a Hitchcock movie will rescue her from poverty and an abusive marriage. He, unfortunately, is more interested in his dinner.

In the play's second thread, it is 1999 and Alex, a media studies professor, has invited his pretty young student Jennifer to his holiday home in Greece. The trip is ostensibly for the two movie buffs to pore over some reels of old Hitchcock film unearthed from a London studio, although she suspects - and is later proved right - that he has ulterior motives.

The protagonists are as different as they are far apart in time - Hitchcock is pompous and inscrutable while Alex is scruffy and slightly pathetic; the Blonde is nervous and excitable while Jennifer is petulant and childish.

But the stories mimic each other as they unfold, in the first instance as the power balance shifts; from Jennifer as she succumbs to his gauche advances after being tricked in thinking he is dying of terminal cancer, and from the Blonde as Hitch decides he is going to make a pornographic movie.

Later, both women realize that having bared all - literally, save a minimalist G-string in the case of the Blonde, to the delight of the audience - neither Hitch nor Alex are interested anymore. After fantasy becomes reality, the men shy away, impatient and almost repulsed.

The script, by British playwright Terry Johnson, is superbly written, full of dark humor ("That she could be, that women are." "Are what?" "Are stabbed. Occasionally.") and quick, witty exchanges ("The character is naked." "How naked?" "How naked is naked?").

Particularly considering that they are an amateur group, the Seoul Players have done an excellent job with this complicated material. Top of the bunch is Daami Cagney's portrayal of Alex, a great delivery of the pathos of a dusty academic aged 46 years and 17 months, who leers at his students and is sleazy enough to pretend he's dying of cancer to get someone in bed.

As the Blonde, Amanda Doucet certainly looks the part - willowy and lithe. Her Blonde is extremely highly strung, rather than a cool, elegant 50s beauty, but Doucet still conveys the anxiety and gutsiness of a woman with bills to pay and whose husband has a heavy hand.

Mathew Malone, who plays the ponderous Hitch, brings to the character a touch of humor, which, for a non-Hitchcock fan at least, was refreshing even if it wasn't true to the original.

Overall, this play is definitely worth watching, not just to support local theater, but because it's intriguing and well-produced, with relatable themes and, thankfully, not one sickly sweet piece of candy in sight.

The play runs through Feb. 18 at the Hanyang University Alumni Building, Hanyang Station on Subway Line No. 2, Exit No. 2. If you're driving, it's 15 minutes by car from Itaewon, with parking beneath the theater.

Tickets are 15,000 won (full price) and 10,000 won (discounted). For more information, visit www.seoulplayers.com or call (02) 795-4901 or 010-5877-0285.

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