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Hitchcock & Herrmann
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Hitchcock & Herrmann is the title of a play written by David Knijnenburg
David Knijnenburg
David Albertus Trelawney Knijnenburg is an Australian stage, television and film actor, best known for playing Alfred Hitchcock in his stage production Hitchcock & Herrmann and in assorted roles in Twelfth Night Theatre's numerous stage adaptations of classic BBC television series such as Dad's...

 which examines the relationship between Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...

 and Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures.An Academy Award-winner , Herrmann is particularly known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo...

.

Synopsis

At a time when Hollywood was ruled by studio moguls and movies were filled with stars, only one director was more famous and more easily recognisable than any of his peers. By combining a rare talent for self-promotion and producing films that were both personal and universally popular, Alfred Hitchcock succeeded in entrenching his position as one of the greatest Directors of motion pictures.
No less of a talent in the world of musical composition, Bernard Herrmann was a child prodigy who had worked with Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...

 before finding the supreme collaboration with the Master of Suspense. The Trouble with Harry
The Trouble with Harry
The Trouble With Harry is a 1955 American black comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on the novel of the same name by Jack Trevor Story. It was released in the United States on October 3, 1955 then rereleased once the distribution rights were acquired by Universal Pictures in 1984...

, The Man Who Knew Too Much
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 film)
The Man Who Knew Too Much is a suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart and Doris Day. The film is a remake in widescreen VistaVision and Technicolor of Hitchcock's 1934 film of the same name....

, The Wrong Man
The Wrong Man
The Wrong Man is a 1956 film by Alfred Hitchcock which stars Henry Fonda and Vera Miles. The film is based on a true story of an innocent man charged for a crime he did not commit...

, North by Northwest
North by Northwest
North by Northwest is a 1959 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, and featuring Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau...

, Vertigo
Vertigo (film)
Vertigo is a 1958 psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Barbara Bel Geddes. The screenplay was written by Alec Coppel and Samuel A...

, Psycho
Psycho (1960 film)
Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch...

, The Birds
The Birds (film)
The Birds is a 1963 horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on the 1952 short story "The Birds" by Daphne du Maurier. It depicts Bodega Bay, California which is, suddenly and for unexplained reasons, the subject of a series of widespread and violent bird attacks over the course of a few...

 and Marnie
Marnie
Marnie is a 1961 English novel written by Winston Graham, about a young woman who makes a living by embezzling from her employers, moving on, and changing her identity. She is finally caught in the act by one of her employers, a young widower named Mark Rutland, who blackmails her into marriage...

 - These films represented the pinnacle for both men at the height of their talent, and true classics of the mystery genre.
But a greater mystery than anything ever filmed was why after ten years the two men ended their collaboration and arguably, neither again achieved anywhere near the same level of success.

Themes

Through what is essentially two intersecting monologues Hitchcock & Herrmann explores the relationship between these two geniuses and endeavours to explain in their own words why at the height of their creative talents they suddenly and inexplicably parted company and never worked together again. Interspersed throughout are examples of Herrmann's music - often taking the place for important dramatic points.

Australia

The play was first performed in January, 2005 as a rehearsed reading at the 4MBS
4MBS
4MBS Classic FM is a Brisbane community radio station that broadcasts classical music, jazz and nostalgia throughout South East Queensland. It is broadcast at a frequency of 103.7 MHz....

 Performance Studio in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 with Knijnenburg himself playing the part of Hitchcock and Yalin Ozucelik as Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures.An Academy Award-winner , Herrmann is particularly known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo...

. This reading was somewhat of a rushed affair in order to accommodate Ozuceik who was soon to begin studies at NIDA
Nida
Nida may refer to:* Nida, Lithuania* Nida in Poland* Nida , an ancient roman town in the northwestern suburbs of today's Frankfurt am Main, Germany* Nida, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland...

 and would subsequently be unavailable.
Nevertheless the show was a success with critics and audiences alike, resulting in a three week performance season in March 2005. Knijnenburg again played Hitchcock, however this time the role of Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures.An Academy Award-winner , Herrmann is particularly known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo...

 was taken by Michael Priest.
Further successes followed culminating in a nomination for Best Playwright in the 2005 Matilda Awards
Matilda Awards
The Matilda Awards are awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, theatre, and performance in Brisbane, the Australian state capital of Queensland and are the only awards to do so in that state...

 for Excellence in Live Drama. Other nominees in the category included world-famous playwright David Williamson
David Williamson
David Keith Williamson AO is one of Australia's best-known playwrights. He has also written screenplays and teleplays.-Biography:...

.

In 2006 Knijnenburg was invited to perform the show at the Melbourne Fringe Festival
Melbourne Fringe Festival
The Melbourne Fringe Festival is an annual independent arts festival held in Melbourne, Australia. The Festival runs for three weeks from late September to early October, usually overlapping with the beginning of the Melbourne International Arts Festival...

. With Michael Priest unavailable a new actor was cast in the role of Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures.An Academy Award-winner , Herrmann is particularly known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo...

 - Jesse Rosenfeld
Jesse Rosenfeld
Jesse Rosenfeld is an Australian stage, television and film actor, best known for playing Marco Silvani on the soap opera Neighbours.-Biography:Jesse was born in Melbourne, Australia, but spent much of his childhood in Cairns....

, a talented young actor who had recently graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts
Victorian College of the Arts
The Faculty of the VCA and Music is a faculty of the University of Melbourne, in Victoria . VCAM is located near the Melbourne central business district, on two campuses, one - the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - on the Parkville campus of the University of Melbourne, and the other - the...

 but had been acting since the age of twelve when he appeared in Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford is an Australian film director who has made more than 30 feature films over a 40-year career.-Early life:...

's film Paradise Road alongside Pamela Rabe
Pamela Rabe
Pamela Rabe is a Canadian / Australian stage, television and film actor. A graduate from the Playhouse Acting School, in Vancouver, Pamela Rabe is one of Australia’s most highly regarded and awarded actors. She is best known for her appearances in the films Cosi, Sirens and Paradise Road...

, Pauline Collins
Pauline Collins
Pauline Collins, OBE is an English actress of the stage, television, and film. She first came to prominence portraying Sarah Moffat in Upstairs, Downstairs and its spin-off Thomas & Sarah during the 1970s. She later drew acclaim for playing the title role in the play Shirley Valentine for which...

, Glenn Close
Glenn Close
Glenn Close is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and...

 and a young Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...

.
Again the reviews were excellent.

Plans are afoot to tour the production throughout Australia and internationally with the only problems being to fit in with Knijnenburg's and Rosenfeld's acting schedules - Knijnenburg is very busy performing in the theatre and Rosenfeld has recently joined the cast of the revamped television series Neighbours
Neighbours
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems...

.

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