The Devonshire Park summer season closes with a major new adaptation of the tightly wound and chilling thriller Night Must Fall, which premieres at Eastbourne from Friday 19th August to Saturday 3rd September, ahead of a national tour.
The cast, which includes Gwen Taylor (Barbara, Duty Free), Daragh O’Malley (Sharpe, Withnail And I), Niamh McGrady (Holby City, The Fall) and Will Featherstone (Fresh Meat, Endeavour), have been rehearsing in Eastbourne all week ahead of the world premiere on Friday.
This new revival of Welsh playwright Emlyn Williams’ deliciously tense thriller is a nerve-jangler unlike any other, set in the remote woodland home of the decidedly unlikeable Mrs Bramson this entertaining chiller has a hidden subtext which will stay with audiences long after the curtain falls.
It’s 1935 and Mrs Bramson’s young maid admits that she is pregnant out of wedlock, her steely employer insists on meeting the father, Dan, a young Welsh bell-boy at a local hotel who’s new to the town and quick to charm the disagreeable old woman. Though suave and charming Dan is playing a terrifying game, and the odds are in his favour. A local woman has been found brutally and horribly murdered and there is one main suspect – him.
With encroaching dread the audience will realise that there is no escape as night indeed must fall, but what will that that darkness bring with it?
Eastbourne favourite Gwen Taylor takes the central role of the wheelchair bound and universally disliked house-owner Mrs Bramson, ‘I love her’ said Gwen ‘I think she’s a horrible woman. She refuses to understand anybody. She wants to be needed but nobody needs her. It’s so much nicer to play horrible women’.
Despite being written over 80 years ago Night Must Fall will leave audiences teetering on the very edge of their seats. Director Luke Sheppard explains: “It’s a period play and absolutely of its time but for me there’s a huge amount within the play that will speak to a contemporary audience” This is reflected in the stunning set design which incorporates a mix of authentic homely bungalow with big bold beams and period props against a backdrop of the forest which takes a more symbolic view of the world from acclaimed designer David Woodhead.
Night Must Fall appears at the Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne from Friday 19th August – Saturday 3rd September, with nightly performances at 7.45pm and 2.30pm Matinees on Wednesday and Saturday. Tickets, priced from £15.50, can be booked by calling the box office on 01323 412000 or online www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk.