When you think of the serial killer and former forensic psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter, what comes to mind? I would bet good money it’s Anthony Hopkins in Jonathan Demme’s 1991 film Silence of the Lambs, talking about eating someone’s liver with fava beans and a nice chianti. This film, an adaptation of Robert Harris’s book of the same name, projected the character into the cultural zeitgeist.There have been multiple adaptations of Harris’s four novels about Lecter since the first, Red Dragon, was released in 1981. These include Manhunter (1989), the Hannibal film (2001), Red Dragon (2002), the NBC series Hannibal (2013 to 2015), and more recently, a television series Clarice (2021), focusing on the events of The Silence of the Lambs.Lecter now makes his stage debut in an adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs. Much like the film, this adaptation sees FBI trainee Clarice Starling sent to interview cannibal sociopath Dr Hannibal Lecter at the behest of her mentor, Jack Crawford. Crawford hopes that Lecter can shed some light on a recent spate of serial killings where women are being flayed by Buffalo Bill (real name Jame Gumb) to make a skin suit. In the conversations between Lecter and Clarice, an uneasy connection emerges. Clarice must find Bill’s latest victim, Catherine Martin, before time runs out.Before going to see this adaptation, I wondered whether there would be any imitation of the visual elements of the film. Specifically, would there be a repetition of characteristics that came to define the character of Hannibal specifically? There are moments of this throughout: the look of the cell and the mask, the slicked back hair and demeanour of Hannibal (played here by John Partridge), the night-vision goggles of the showdown between Buffalo Bill (Sam Jackson) and Clarice (Mollie Gallagher). This is perhaps necessary. Adaptations often bring with them what literary critic Linda Hutcheon calls “knowing audiences” who are familiar with the text and therefore may look for and want similarities.Moving from the mediums the story has previously inhabited (novel, film, television) to stage offers the opportunity for new ways to tell this story, which the production takes advantage of. The staging is impressive, neatly segueing between the asylum where Lecter is kept, the FBI training school Quantico, Jack Crawford’s (Oliver Farnworth) office and Buffalo Bill’s house where he holds women captive before killing them. The production’s switching between these settings feels smooth and characters inhabit mixed worlds in the storytelling. One notable sequence saw Buffalo Bill sitting atop Lecter’s cage sewing his skin suit while Clarice and Lecter discussed him. In this, Bill is physically and metaphorically hovering over them.The production also employs interesting techniques to give the audience information in unique ways. These included the projection of the case files of a patient being discussed across the dark of the stage. Another is the screening of a press conference by Catherine Martin’s (Lottie Amor) mother (Jo Mousley) projected onto a fine screen across the stage, which becomes more transparent, allowing the audience to see events on the stage as she speaks. This multiplicity of action capitalises on the opportunities of theatre, and avoids any moment or storyline feeling too static. One notable, and welcome, change is the characterisation of Buffalo Bill. In Demme’s 1991 film, the portrayal was seen as queerphobic and transphobic, leading to protests from activist groups. As one leader of the LGBTQ+ media rights group Glaad commented at the time: “He has a poodle named Precious, he sews, he wears a nipple ring, he has an affected feminine voice, and he cross-dresses. He completely promotes homophobia.” (In more recent years, the portrayal has been recast as transphobia.)The 1994 film Philadelphia, about the mistreatment of a gay man dying of Aids, is often viewed as a form of apology to the LGBTQ+ community for Silence.This new theatre production, however, steps back from the controversy of the film. Instead, Bill is presented as childlike, often sitting cross-legged like at school, or roaming around the stage in his underwear (representing, in part, his “unfinished” nature).John Partridge clearly relishes playing Hannibal Lecter, pacing around the stage in a catlike way. Aside from a few vocal echoes of Hopkins in his delivery – for instance, in the way he says “F…B…I” and “Quid pro quo, Clarice” – Partridge manages to offer a take on the character that avoids mimicry. His portrayal changes the physicality of Lecter, adds more energy than the template that Hopkins provided.Similarly, Mollie Gallagher’s Clarice retains echoes of Foster in her voice, with the husky tones and approach to the accent strikingly similar. Maybe this is because Hopkins’s Hannibal mocks the background and West Virginian (Appalachian) accent in the film, imitating it while asking: “What is your father, dear? Is he a coal miner?”The characters’ relationship is also altered on stage by their physical proximity to one another, developing more of a closeness and tension, which is absent in other adaptations.The production overall gives some moments that re-address some of the concerns of previous adaptations. For instance, Buffalo Bill’s victim Catherine Martin. It delivers elements of familiarity for audiences, while allowing for subtle tweaks that reframe Harris’ text.There are some commendable decisions here in adapting the screen to the stage. However, is it the most novel and inventive adaptation? Possibly not. But as a fan of Hannibal Lecter it was fun to see how this story could come alive in the theatre and I’m sure other fans will enjoy it too. For those who are new to the story, it still presents an engaging piece of theatre well worth seeing.The Silence of the Lambs is running on a major UK and Ireland tour from October 2026 through to June 2027This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something, The Conversation UK may earn a commission.Christina Wilkins does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.