ANOTHER girl is missing, and serial killer ‘Buffalo Bill’ is still at large. To hunt him down, FBI trainee Clarice Starling is sent to interview psychiatrist and infamous murderer Hannibal Lecter.
But time is running out - and Dr Lecter has questions of his own. Clarice must decide: keep a distance or let Hannibal ‘The Cannibal’ into her head?
Clarice and Lecter face off on stage in a chilling new adaptation of Thomas Harris’s best-seller The Silence of the Lambs. The psychological thriller comes to Bradford next month following its world premiere at Leicester’s Curve Theatre. Directed by Nikolai Foster and adapted by American screenwriter Gina Gionfriddo, it stars John Partridge as Hannibal Lecter, Mollie Gallagher as Clarice Starling, Oliver Farnworth as FBI agent Jack Crawford and Sam Jackson as Buffalo Bill.
John is an actor, dancer, singer and presenter, best known as Christian Clarke in EastEnders. His theatre work includes Cats; he was Rum Tum Tugger in the film production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical.
Mollie played Nina Lucas in Coronation Street; she joined the soap straight from drama school and won a National Television Award for the Nina and Seb hate crime storyline.
Oliver’s theatre credits include 42nd Street and Fatal Attraction and he’s been in TV dramas such as Mr Selfridge, The Royal and more recently Emmerdale, playing killer John Sugden.
Sam’s theatre roles include Beautiful Thing and Kes and his TV work includes Father Brown, The Syndicate and Skins.
* How well did you know Silence of the Lambs?
Mollie: “I’ve always loved the film. My family have a joke going with it. The meme of Anthony Hopkins, where you first see Lecter and he stands up, we tease my dad that he looks like him!”
John Partridge: “When the film came out in 1991, I was one of those core viewers. When I heard about it being put on, I thought ‘Ooh, that would be fantastic!’”
Oliver: “I’ve seen the film a million times. It’s an incredible thriller. Gina’s done a really clever adaptation.”
Sam: “It was one of those films that made me fall in love with acting.”
* How did you get into character?
JP: I did wonder, ‘How do you do something so ingrained in pop culture?’ Then I read about Anthony Hopkins choosing three surprising inspirations for Lecter: Truman Capote, Katharine Hepburn, and the computer HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey. My three are Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor and John Malkovich. Lecter is intelligent, mocking and acerbic, also serious and malevolent. I try to forget any other version and put myself firmly in that cell. If you’re lucky enough to be in this business for a long time - I’m 55 now, I went into Cats when I was 16 - parts like this come along where you can colour with all the crayons in your colouring box. I use my dance background, my physicality, to inhabit Lecter.”
MG: “Physically, it’s been a real transformation for me. The way I hold myself is different, my voice too. Clarice speaks from a lower place to convey strength. She’s grounded. She’s much smarter than I am. In any situation, I think “What would Clarice do?”
OF: “Crawford is head of the FBI behavioural science unit, pooh-poohed as cranks. The idea of pre-empting serial killers by psychologically profiling them was seen as crazy. It’s interesting looking back - no mobiles, no DNA. When Jack mentions cutting-edge technology it’s a fax machine!”
Oliver Farnworth as FBI agent Jack Crawford (Image: Marc Brenner)
SJ: “A criticism of the film is that Jame Gumb believes he’s transsexual, he gets rejected from where he wants to have surgery. The reasoning for our Gumb is a mother-son relationship. It’s cool to create a whole new version.
* Why does it work on stage?
JP: “The Lecter-Clarice relationship is inherently theatrical. It’s like a dance. I love Mollie - she’s a good northern lass. We’re both instinctual actors. I didn’t go to drama school, this is her first piece of theatre. That’s what makes our relationship on stage fresh. We’ve developed this tight tennis match.
John Partridge as Dr Hannibal Lecter (Image: Marc Brenner)
OF: “The sound effects and music create an eerie atmosphere. There’s even more dramatic tension on stage; frantic moments of Clarice and Jack trying to track down a killer, versus stillness between Lecter and Clarice. I love the scene where Clarice is walking past the other inmates then meets Lecter. It’s a thrilling theatrical moment.”
SJ: “It’s fast-paced. The FBI are doing all they can to stop Gumb killing - it’s a ticking clock.”
* Which themes still resonate?
JP: “It’s set in the 80s, when women were viewed very differently - or perhaps not, Our attitudes to lots of things, be it same-sex marriage, gay and trans rights, the rise of toxic masculinity, we’re not that far from the 80s. As a gay man, I see my hard-earned freedoms rolled back every day.
We were talking in rehearsal about the attitudes of police officers at the time, the rampant misogyny, but look where we are now with the likes of Andrew Tate. Look at the gender pay gap. It’s sobering to see where we’ve progressed and where we have so much more work to do.”
Sam Jackson as Jame Gumb - sadistic serial killer ‘Buffalo Bill’ (Image: Marc Brenner)
MG: “Clarice is a true underdog. She didn’t come from money, she’s a woman in a man’s world. Women have to fight every day to make themselves heard. I’m from a working-class background. I feel I have to prove myself.”
“Clarice is a woman in a man’s world” (Image: Marc Brenner)
OF: “There’s something that draws us in to macabre stories. Perhaps it’s a question of survival - can we spot the monsters hiding in plain sight? They might seem charming, but who knows what they’re capable of? That fascination never goes.”
SJ: “It’s a mix of feeling nostalgic, but it still feels very current. With true crime documentaries and podcasts, this is something people are intrigued by. But there hasn’t been much theatre about the psychology of serial killers. Hopefully, audiences will be captivated by it.”
* The Silence of the Lambs is at the Alhambra Theatre from October 12-17. Call (01274) 432000 or visit bradford-theatres.co.uk