Please note: contains nudity and offensive language.

A Media lecturer and his female protege travel to Greece to restore old and damaged film reels and find some deteriorated Hitchcock footage. It would appear they have discovered some early rushes but for what film and who is the mysterious blonde? An appallingly amusing theatrical film noir of genius, lust, death and voyeuristic obsession.

Terry Johnson's Hitchcock Blonde is a big, bold adventure of a play which, with witty eloquence, portrays the great filmmaker as an impotent, misogynistic, broken-hearted voyeur for whom film was akin to sexual revenge. No wonder, in Johnson's view, Hitchcock plunged his cool, blonde heroines into bloodbaths.

NAKED BLONDES, PSYCHOS AND BAD LANGUAGE AT THE FORTUNE THEATRE.

The NZ premiere of Hitchcock Blonde by Terry Johnson (The Graduate) will star Danielle Mason, who arrives in Dunedin from finishing post production for the feature film, Black Sheep. Danielle will not only need to brave the less temperate climes of the Dunedin winter, but the plot calls for her to spend time naked and soaking wet!

There are two related plot threads in Hitchcock Blonde. A present day Media Studies lecturer invites a young blonde student to accompany him on a trip to Greece where they will be investigating some canisters of deteriorating film that could be Uninvited Guest, a long-forgotten Hitchcock film dating from 1919. Running parallel with this story is a behind the scenes tale involving Hitch and his relationship with Janet Leigh's blonde body double on the shower-room set of Psycho.

Hitchcock Blonde debuted at London's prestigious Royal Court, a theatre devoted to new playwriting, in 2003 and after its successful season there transferred into the West End for a commercial presentation. It is a bold and challenging piece, which, will thrill and we hope terrorise audiences in Dunedin. The Fortune production will use original footage and film clips made for the Royal Court and West End production and is working with the people at Natural History NZ Limited on some of the filmic issues involved with staging this play.

During the season of Hitchcock Blonde, a festival of classic Hitchcock films will screen in the studio theatre every Sunday. The Fortune has programmed Topaz, Vertigo and, crucially, Psycho.

The title role in Hitchcock Blonde will be played at the Fortune by Danielle Mason who will be remembered by local audiences for her stunning performance last year as the femme fatale Lulu. Twice winner of Chapman Tripp Awards for her performances, Danielle has also been seen in the short films Kerosene Creek and Futile Attraction and in the television series The Strip. A familiar face on the small screen in Telecom commercials she has recently been filming Black Sheep and will be flying to Dunedin to begin rehearsals at the Fortune direct from a film set in the United Kingdom.

Erin Banks was named the Most Promising Newcomer in last year's Chapman Tripp Awards. A recent B.A. graduate in Theatre from Victoria University she has also been attached to the Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London as a member of the New Zealand Young Shakespeare Company. She has appeared at Bats Theatre (Wellington) and on tour in the Bacchanals productions of Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Measure for Measure, Hate Crimes and I.D.

Patrick Wilson will play Hitch. He trained at the Actors' Institute and Academy Drama School in London and, since his return to New Zealand, has had a busy career on stage and screen. On television he has been seen in Shortland Street, Orange

Roughies, Mercy Peak, Spin Doctors, Jackson's Wharf, Street Legal, Hercules, Xena and Letter to Blanchey. His film appearances include Crooked Earth, Broken English, Channelling Baby, Savage Honeymoon and Feathers of Peace. Fortune audiences will remember him as Colin in last year's hit production of Roger Hall's Spreading Out.

Alistair Browning will return to his home town to appear as Media Studies researcher, Alex. Film appearances include Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, The End of the Golden Weather, Rain (for which he was named Best Supporting Actor) and Fracture. Rounding out the cast will be local actor Mark Neilson.
The Fortune is delighted to have secured as director of Hitchcock Blonde the very experienced Wellington theatre worker, David Lawrence, who last year won the Chapman Tripp Award as Best Director for his production of I.D. (which was also named Best Production). David has a B.A. with 1st Class Honours and an M.A. with Distinction in Theatre from Victoria University. He has been directing Shakespearian productions since high school and has now produced Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet, Titus Andronicus, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, Measure for Measure, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Two Gentlemen of Verona. His other classic productions include The Frogs, The Bacchae, The Mysteries, The Jew of Malta and Volpone. In addition to I.D. his other contemporary productions include Sarah Kane's Crave and Hate Crimes by rising young New Zealand playwright Paul Rothwell. David is also a very experienced practitioner in the technical design aspects of theatre and has his own touring company, the Bacchanals, which presents Shakespearian productions in smaller centres throughout the North Island.

The set for the Fortune Theatre production of Hitchcock Blonde will be designed by Peter King, and involves a working spa pool on stage, a projector for the movie footage from the Royal Court Theatre London and few other surprises! Costume design by Wardrobe Mistress, Maryanne Wright-Smyth, and lighting and sound by Ulli Briese.

Bookings are now open at the Fortune Theatre box office (phone 477 8323) or via our website (www.fortunetheatre.co.nz) for the strictly limited season of Hitchcock Blonde which commences on July 28 and concludes on August 19. Take advantage of our Early Bird offer - All tickets only $25 when booked before July 28.
Ticket prices: Full price adults $29.50, Senior Citizens $27.00, $24.50 for members of the Members' Society, $25.00 Groups of 10+, $19.50 University Students, $15.00 School Students, School Groups of 10+ $13.50
TASTE THE ARTS with our PAY WHAT YOU CAN NIGHT Wednesday August 2, 2006 (recommended price $10)