Terry Johnson, writer and director, immediately draws us deep into the world of film noir as the distinctive music envelopes us and from behind a screen of a movie studio we hear the disembodied voice of a girl reading the shots from what sounds very much like a Hitchcock film script. We are actually in 1999 and Nicola (Fiona Glascott) is reading what is supposed to be an essay for her media class, to her lecturer Alex (David Haig). 
      Playing on their shared love of classic films and Hitchcock in particular, Alex manages to lure Nicola to his villa in Greece where he has seven damaged reels, recently bought from a collector, of what he is convinced are an undiscovered Hitchcock film from 1919. She is wary at first, worried that he wants more than her help in restoring the film, but in the end Hitchcock and Alex win. 
      We jump back to 1959 and Hitchcock is dining with one of his blondes, a beautiful unknown actress willing to do what it takes to have a role in his film, to pay the bills and possibly to help her escape from her violent husband. Hitchcock seems more interested in his Dover sole than in the girl but grudgingly answers her questions. William Hootkins is perfect as Hitch, from his profile to his weighty delivery to his slow gait, and Rosamund Pike is a classic fifties beauty, cool and elegant but full of guts. There are some beautiful exchanges: 'Are you a natural blonde?' 'Up to a point.'; 'The character is naked.' 'How naked?' 'How naked is naked?'; ' That she could be'that women are'?' 'Are what?' ' Are stabbed. Occasionally.' all delivered with impeccable timing. 
      Back in 1999 of course things are progressing. There is delight in the salvage of just a few frames, of a blonde in a bath, the bathroom in shadow, the corridor beyond, lit, and as far as Alex and Nicola are concerned it is almost certainly Hitchcock. These images are projected on the walls as they look at them and they do have an eerily familiar feel to them. Alex and Nicola begin to work as detectives, working out the plot, the reason for the film's neglect and disappearance, what it says about Hitchcock' 
      It soon becomes obvious that Nicola was right, Alex does want more from her. She rejects him forcefully comparing his '46 years and 17 months' to her 21 years, saying he reminds her of her granddad. But Alex manages to manipulate her by pretending he is dying. After a wonderful scene where he sees her image in a shower, tries to clasp her in his arms but the image fades and Nicola returns to find him dripping wet under the shower, she gives in. Inevitably, once she has succumbed he loses interest and Nicola becomes the one who is left begging. 
      In 1959 things are even more complicated. The Blonde taunts her silent husband by describing her nude scenes and when he finally responds she reacts in true Hitchcockian style. She then switches the balance of power between herself and the great man by offering him more than he wants. 
      The designs, lighting, effects, costumes and music are all incredibly atmospheric, perfectly capturing the surreal quality of film noir and making the Royal Court feel like a cinema. The acting is superb. There is so much more I could say - Terry Johnson's play is hugely complex; at one stage I almost felt the plot was rather contrived, but in the end it grips you and carries you with it to such an extent that all you want to do is go back and see it again.
Francine Brody