About the Show

Billy Crudup and Denise Gough star in Roth’s new stage adaptation of the classic 1952 film.

Set in the American West of the 1800s, this new stage adaptation unfolds in real time as lawman Will Kane faces an impossible choice. On the day of his wedding to Amy Fowler, he learns that outlaw Frank Miller—recently released from prison—is returning on the noon train to seek revenge. With only minutes to decide, Kane must weigh duty against desire, as the bond between newlyweds is tested by the ticking clock.

The play is adapted by Roth in his debut work for the stage, based on the 1952 film produced by Stanley Kramer, directed by Fred Zinnemann, and written by Carl Foreman. Widely regarded as one of the most significant westerns in cinema history, the film won four Academy Awards and became an allegory of Hollywood’s blacklist era.

This production stars Tony and Emmy Award-winner Billy Crudup (The Morning Show, The Coast of Utopia) and Olivier Award-winner Denise Gough (Andor, People, Places & Things).

Critic Reviews (10)

"Crudup brings gravitas and quiet dignity to the role...The production looks handsome with its slatted wooden set design and Sunday-best costuming by Tim Hately."
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"It’s entertaining and well executed but frankly bonkers...It’s just another bizarre facet of this beguilingly odd enterprise."
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"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."
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“High Noon the film is an all time classic. High Noon the play is an entertaining curio.”
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"Not a total misfire, then, but it doesn’t hit the mark – better to re-watch the film."
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"Crudup proves there’s more than one way to be a hero...In the end, though, Roth doesn’t quite persuade you that this is a story that needs to be remade.”
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"The rest is careful and elegantly enjoyable, but lacks that emotional punch."
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“But for all the elegant shifts in light and shade and haze on view before us, the play only intermittently snaps into focus: less High Noon than a middling evening.”
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