REVIEW: NIGHT MUST FALL

SALISBURY PLAYHOUSE

OUT of nowhere came Danny ... to the secluded house in the woods ... to live with the three women. To them, he was young, fun and irresistible ... but Danny was also a psychopath.

To Dora, he was the father of her unborn child; to old Mrs Bramson, he was the vivacious son she’d never had; and to intelligent and artistic Olivia, he was a bittersweet enigma.

This brilliantly entertaining psychological thriller was written by Emlyn Williams in 1935, was twice made into movies (the 1964 black & white version starring Albert Finney particularly compelling) and now this wonderful revival is touring the UK.

The set is claustrophobically effective, lighting and music subtly powerful, the absence of a phone emphasising the house’s isolation.

Playing Danny, Will Featherstone conveys the character’s vivacity, confusion and dangerous menace superbly, his lilting Welsh accent spot-on.

As old Mrs Bramson, seemingly confined to a wheelchair, Gwen Taylor explores the old lady’s selfish and bullying nature to the servants, her coquettish delight in Danny’s attentions, and finally her terror and fear as “Night Falls”.

Playing Hubert, the comic foil whose on-one-knee marriage proposal is excruciating, and whose language is delicious – “I’m an all-round chap!”, Alasdair Buchan provides a delightful antidote to the simmering horror.

As Olivia, who can create sonnets yet is inexorably drawn to Danny’s wildness, Niamh McGrady is mesmeric.

Runs until September 24, matinees Thursdays and Saturdays.

Don’t miss the mysterious hat-box!

Brendan McCusker