From Rope to Psycho, Hitch by the Mary Bijou Circus Theatre Company covers all the famous Hitchcock thrillers plus at least one you may not know, as admitted to by a sheepish audience member in the front row. However, you don't need to have any knowledge of the work of the “Master of Suspense” to enjoy this original and delightful hour of circus theatre.
Hitch is a mix of classic circus skills, live music and performance vignettes that work fantastically well to convey the often frantic action of Hitchcock's movies. It's all held together by the charmingly likeable George Fuller who, as well as acting as Master of Ceremonies, presents many of the everyman characters portrayed in Hitchcock's work by getting directly involved in the action with some slick slackrope and acrobalance skills.
An excellent decision was to have live music hold the show together with Tom Elstob's bombastic rock guitars and digital beats blending with frantic piano and Bethan Cecil's ethereal lyrics performed by Tia-Rhian Kalmaru.
Aislinn Mulligan, Anna Sandreuter and Tom Bell are all fantastic aerial performers who effortlessly defy gravity - and possibly biology - on silks, rope and trapeze but each shines individually as characters in the snippets of suspense.
A highlight is the fantastic performance piece by Joe Wild who is transformed before our eyes into one of Hitchcock’s leading ladies in a remarkably intense but beautiful moment. It is a perfectly pitched humorous tribute to the director’s love of blondes.
One of the delights of this show is seeing how each of the famous movies is portrayed so I'm going to take the advice of Mr Hitchcock himself and keep the twists and turns a secret until you experience it for yourself. However you know you'll see a tribute to the shower scene from Psycho - how could you present a Hitchcock themed show and not have this iconic moment? Hitch presents the scene in a routine that (no spoilers here) was both beautiful and disturbing and, had Alfred Hitchcock been around to see it, I think he'd certainly approve.
Hitch is a delightful show that’s filled with skill, humour, art and suspense. Just like Mr Hitchcock himself.
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