Original Theatre Company, Salisbury Playhouse and Eastbourne Theatres have assembled a tremendous cast to perform Emlyn Williams’ Night Must Fall, a psychological thriller that, sadly, promises a little more than it delivers.
It’s not that the cast didn’t try, or even that the script wasn’t good enough, as the cast worked very hard and the combination of comedy and drama made for a very enjoyable piece but the problem is that it is far too predictable and very short on any real sense of suspense.
So many conversations in the interval are about who the real killer might be, what would the twist be at the end and how would the mystery unfold – only for us to find that there is no twist, the real killer is the most obvious character and that there is no real mystery to unfold.
TV favourite Gwen Taylor seems to really enjoy playing Mrs Bramson, the bitter, fussy, self-pitying elderly woman who resides in Forest Corner, a lonely bungalow in Essex. As the drama peaks in act two, her sheer terror at being left completely alone for the first time is quite palpable.
Normally Mrs Bramson shares her home with her servants, Dora the young maid (Melissa Vaughan) and Mrs Terence the gossipy cook (Mandi Symonds), with occasional visits from her nurse, Libby, played by Anne Odeke. All three women are quite stereotypical, but they do get a good selection of one-liners to provide some light relief when the drama gets a bit heavy.
Dan, the bell-boy from a local hotel, and father to Dora’s unborn child, is definitely the most engaging character in the play. The mystery that surrounds his past, his total addiction to play acting and his ability to read people so well that he can, almost instantly, endear himself to anyone, even the supremely cynical Mrs Bramson, make him a great central character. Will Featherstone is faultless in the part and watching him charm and smarm his way through the play is almost painful to see.
As Mrs Bramson’s niece, Olivia, Niamh McGrady also works well. She has a dislike for Dan as, from the moment she meets him, she senses his artificiality exaggerated amiability although, as the play continues, we can soon see that her dislike is also a mask and that, secretly, she has fallen for him.
Alasdair Buchan as Olivia’s failed love interest, and Daragh O’Malley as Inspector Belsize, a detective who takes very much longer than the audience to realise who the killer is, also try hard, although their characters are both a bit shallow and one-dimensional.
The play was first performed back in 1935, with two film adaptations in 1937 and 1964, and, as such, is a little dated, but it is a well crafted piece and provides an entertaining, if predictable, night out.
*** Three Stars
