I have a tip for anyone wishing to attend Red Herring Theater's production of "Nighthawks," which I saw last night:  If you really want to feel like you're watching the Hopper painting come to life, sit in one of the seats that are to the left side of the auditorium.

This is, by my count, the second and a half-ish revival of "Nighthawks," which I saw at Red Herring years ago, and for which I attended a reading of in support of The Drama Foundry in 2011, if memory serves.  This Red Herring production may be the best yet; it's tight, funny, has excellent performances, and a truly spectacular set.

​An iconic painting and an equally classic film noir plot combine in to make the delightfully wry comedy “Nighthawks.”

In the latest production by Red Herring Theatre, local playwright Johnrick Hole brings Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks at the Diner” to life, casting the four figures in the painting as characters in a quirky murder mystery.

Hole’s trim, well-structured script, which clocks in at about 70 minutes without an intermission, begins with an off-stage death, that of Bennie the bookie, who is found a couple blocks away from the diner that serves as the single set, a purloined fork lodged in his eye.