THE LOVESONG OF ALFRED J HITCHCOCK Begins Tonight at the Curve

As part of Curve's celebratory 5th Birthday Autumn Season, the Leicester theatre reunites with New Persepectives Theatre Company, the East Midlands' leading touring theatre producer, to co-produce the world première of David Rudkin's; The Lovesong of Alfred J Hitchcock.

The production will open in Curve's Studio on 1 October, with previews from tonight, 27 September, and runs until 5 October, before embarking on a national tour. Directed by New Perspective's Artistic Director, Jack McNamara, The Lovesong of Alfred J Hitchcock has been adapted by David Rudkin from his award-winning radio play.

Curve previously collaborated with New Persceptives in 2010 with the world première of Dolly followed by the high successful co-production of The Butterfly Lion in 2012, which opened at Curve before touring the UK.

Alfred Hitchcock, at the height of his powers, is possessed by a dreamlike vision of a woman. From his director's chair the sixty year old Hitchcock begins to unravel some of the defining films of our time, drawing us into the imagination of one of the world's most mysterious creative minds.

The poetic new production takes a look at the way the great filmmaker developed the ideas of his most famous films, including Marnie, Vertigo, Psycho and Strangers on a Train. The result is a unique and haunting character study and an unprecedented journey into the mind of one the UK's most fascinating cultural icons.

Martin Miller leads the cast as Alfred Hitchcock whose theatre credits include Feather (Arcola, London); The Duke in Darkness (Tabard, London); Taking Steps (Oldham Coliseum); Mapping The City (Slung Low/Hull Truck); Zack, Adam Geist (Royal Exchange); Humble Boy, Honeymoon Suite (The New Vic, Stoke); Danny The Champion Of The World(Bolton Octagon); Enjoy (York Theatre Royal); Sex Lives of Others, Hell's Bells, The Proceedings of that Night, Dad's Money (The Pleasance, Edinburgh); The Rivals (Theatre Royal Bath & No. 1 Tour); Red Noses, The Alchemist, and A Taste of Honey (Oxford Playhouse). TV credits include Scott & Bailey, Primeval, Churchill and the Fascist Plot.

Playing Hitchcock's wife, Alma and also his mother, Emma is Roberta Kerr, who is best known for playing Wendy Crozier in Coronation Street. On stage, her extensive theatre credits include Talking Heads and A Cream Cracker Under the Settee (New Vic); Hard Times (Library Theatre Manchester); A Doll's House (The Lowry, Salford); Deathtrap, Blithe Spirit, Quartet and Mail Order Bride (Oldham Coliseum Theatre); The Borrowers (Theatre by the Lake, Keswick). She has also appeared on screen in Silk, Coronation Street, and Emmerdale as series regular Jan Glover.

Completing the company are Anthony Wise plays Priest/Strangler and Tom McHugh as Screenwriter/Waiter.

David Rudkin is widely considered to be one of the UK's most unique visionary playwrights. Emerging as a radical new voice at the RSC in the 1960's, alongside Arnold Wesker and Edward Bond, Rudkin has since gone on to write for many of the greats of theatre, film and television. Principal stage works include Afore Night Come (1962); The Sons of Light(1964-5); Ashes (1972); The Triumph of Death (1976); Hansel and Gretel (1978); The Saxon Shore (1983); John Piper in the House of Death (1984); Will's Way (1984). More recently, Red Sun (2003), commissioned for AJTC two-man touring company and an adaptation of Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita for National Youth Theatre (2004). The LoveSong of Alfred J Hitchcock was original written for BBC Radio 3 and was awarded a Sony Silver Award in 1993.

Jack McNamara has been Artistic Director of New Perspectives since September 2012. This summer he directed the critically acclaimed New Perspectives production of Lars von Trier's The Boss of it All at the Edinburgh Festival. Previously, he was recipient of the Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme, during which he was a director on attachment at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton. As Artistic Director of the experimental theatre company Future Ruins, he was a finalist for the Oxford Samuel Beckett Award 2013. His directing credits include Exterminating Angel(Pleasance Edinburgh/ National Tour); The Word For Snow (Southbank Centre); Malaise Trio (Sprint Festival);Instructions for John Howell (Nursery Festival); Betrayal, White Rabbit, The Coast of Mayo (Nuffield Theatre); The Blind(Arcola Theatre); Lucid Dreams for Higher Living (Underbelly, Edinburgh); and Valparaiso (Old Red Lion Theatre).

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