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Life & Arts

Obsessions take center stage at Alley

Fictional ‘Hitchcock Blonde' delves into the iconic film director's fascination with golden-haired beauties 

by CAITLIN CUPPERNULL
The Daily Cougar 

Certain things come to mind when someone mentions the name Alfred Hitchcock: death, knives, the dolly zoom and a shower scene that is sure to turn a first-time viewer into a bath-taker. However, one image is a bit more pleasant: beautiful, blond women.

Terry Johnson's Hitchcock Blonde tells the fictional story of the woman responsible for Hitchcock's obsession with the classic character type he's so keen on killing off.

Opening in 1999 with a college student reciting a step-by-step breakdown of Psycho's defining scene, Hitchcock Blonde dives into the story of Jennifer (Elizabeth Bunch) and her professor, Alex (Mark Shanahan). 

Alex has found what he believes to be Hitchcock's first film and uses this discovery to lure the much younger Jennifer to his villa in Greece. The two work to reconstruct the little footage they can salvage, fostering a steamy relationship -- including their own personal shower scene -- while uncovering the first "Hitchcock blonde."

Jennifer, despite being a brunette, takes on the role of leading lady. Young and passionate, her vulgar language and impetuous reactions are a strange yet fitting match for the older professor searching for what he lost in his youth.

Between the story of Alex and Jennifer, the audience is taken back to the making of Psycho. It's 1959 and "Hitch" (James Black) is looking for a body double for Janet Leigh. A young woman (Melissa Pritchett) is up for the part -- she's a blonde, of course -- and looking to make ends meet and escape from her abusive husband (Leraldo Anzaldua). 

Unlike the standard Grace Kelly and Tippi Hedren types, the blonde in the play comes off as unintelligent and weak. When she films her debut nude scene, though, she finds a sense of self and strength, transforming into one of the assertive women Hitchcock is famous for including in his films.

After describing how it felt to be looked at by scores of men on the set -- doting on a particularly meaningful moment between her and Hitch -- she murders her no-good husband and threatens to frame Hitch, only to find her deadbeat man isn't quite dead.

With all of the twists of a Hitchcock thriller, the play seamlessly binds these two time periods together. An impressive film backdrop moves as quickly as the storyline, allowing the set to instantly shift from Greece to the blonde's run-down 1950s home.

Throughout the play, the audience is given hints of another story taking place even further in the past: Hitch and his first love -- or obsession.

Alex and Jennifer piece together disintegrating scenes of a blonde in a bathtub, her hair pinned into the symbolic twist of Vertigo. While the two ponder what they believe to be the origins of Hitchcock's signatures, the audience gets clued in on the woman who inspired them.

All of the elements of a Hitchcock film are there: sexual tension, romance, murder, surprising plot twists, blondes -- enough to please any fan -- but the play is unlike the director's films and more like the director himself.

Known for playing an entertaining cameo of himself, Hitchcock Blonde seems to play a cameo of Hitchcock films. It borrows the features of the films and expands on them, adding humor and a distinctive modernity. One shouldn't expect to see a stage production of a Hitchcock film, but rather a story built around the films. 

And if the impressive storyline doesn't catch you, the set design will. Although the props are minimal, those that are utilized, such as a working shower, add a surprising amount of realism. The projected scenery and black and white footage that often appears behind the actors adds to the dark ambience.

Hitchcock Blonde runs through March 18 on the Alley Theatre's Hubbard Stage. For more information, visit www.alleytheatre.org.

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