This gripping new adaptation is Roth’s debut work for the stage – based on the iconic, four-time Oscar-winning 1952 film originally produced by Stanley Kramer, directed by Fred Zinnemann, with screenplay by Carl Foreman – hailed as one of the greatest westerns ever made. This isn’t just a play. It’s a wake-up call.
Once a searing allegory of Hollywood’s blacklist, High Noon now explodes onto the stage in an unmissable new version that speaks urgently to the world today.
et in the American West of the 1800s, High Noon rides on themes as relevant now as they were then. Courage vs. Cowardice. Justice vs. Peace. Duty vs. Desire. And at its heart, is the bond between Will Kane and Amy Fowler – a love tested by impossible choices as the clock ticks down to the return of deadly outlaw Frank Miller on the high noon train.
Tick: Begin a new life together?
Tock: Or take a stand for the greater good?
As time runs out, one truth remains: if you don’t stand up for what’s worth saving, you risk losing it all.
It seems like a reluctant musical at times, the songs short and thin but the percussive music and sound design are always arresting, as is the lighting, designed by Neil Austin, which brings emotional clarity and intrigue. A clock is central to Tim Hatley’s set design, counting down to the train’s thrilling arrival and the subsequent showdown, which manages to contain tension and drama, despite the difficulty of staging a cross-town shootout. For all its early stiffness, it builds in momentum and there are moving moments. Ultimately, the political message speaks loudest, harnessing the McCarthyist fear of then and the Trumpian terror of today.
Tim Hatley’s set design, with its sliding wooden-slat walls, evokes a fragile, dusty township. But while a clock hanging above the stage ticks away as we wait for the villainous Frank Miller to arrive on the noon train, the climactic shoot-out looks perfunctory. Still, the lines that Roth has added about morality and confronting rule-breakers take on new force at the start of a year when the world seems to be in meltdown.
| 2025 | West End |
West End |
| 2030 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
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