Night Must Fall

Reviews

A black comedy with sinister overtones is always a crowd pleaser and this was certainly so for the large audience at Blackmore Village Hall. An elderly matron has her niece living and working for her in an isolated house surrounded by a forest. When a headless woman's body is found nearby, the police are certain to look for a suspect. Dora the maid is pregnant by her bell hop boyfriend Danny and brings him to the house where the story unfolds. Another excellent set at Blackmore players with wonderful props set this production of 'Night Must Fall' really well. Set in the 1930's the costumes and hair styles were all in period with the play. Interesting lighting effects and good sounds from the tech team! Gina Daldry, as the elderly penny pinching hypochondriac, Mrs Bramson, was portrayed as an overbearing dominant stubborn woman changing to a totally gullible silly creature when meeting Danny and falling for his charms and becoming his surrogate mother. Danny (the villain of the piece) was very skilfully acted by Craig Stevens and accolades should go to him for his role; from baby faced happy go lucky young man to a sinister, tortured and tormented soul who finally goes insane on his way to the gallows. I was impressed by his Welsh accent, which he kept throughout the play. This role needed someone who understood the character well and Craig used all his acting skills to get this characterisation just right. Mrs Bramson's niece Olivia (Gail Hughes) portrayed the role of frustrated young spinster to a tee, quietly watching Danny like a snake about to pounce on her prey. Her foppish suitor Hubert Laurie (Andrew Raymond) was the nice deadly boring young man who was finally rejected by her. I would have liked the director to have worked a bit more with both of them so that they had a little more pace in their delivery as this did seem to slow the first half down but the characterisation of their roles was correct for the production. The supporting cast had some great comedy moments and I did love Linda Raymond's, Nurse Libby and Barbara Harrold's cook - Mrs Terence. Dora the maid (Sandra Trott) and Inspector Belsize (Martin Herford) also showed that they knew their characters well but maybe a little more personality with both these roles would have made them come across as slightly more interesting. I feel that the opening with the Lord Chief Justice speech (Keith Goody) could have either been cut shorter or cut completely as this play is a lengthy piece. It might also have had more impact if his chair had been in front of tabs with a spotlight for a more sinister effect, rather than in between the tabs with the set showing behind him. Also it may have helped the scene changes if they were accompanied by a selection of sinister music. I am not sure if the director was playing this production as a comedy throughout, but it was getting plenty of laughs from the audience when maybe it shouldn't have done; it was only at the end of the production when Olivia finds that Danny has killed her aunt that the sinister element came into its own, with dim lighting and the quietness of the two of them making you appreciate just how insane Danny was. Well done to all for the hard work that was so obvious. Accolades go to the back stage team who clearly worked as hard as the actors themselves.

Christine Davidson, NODA