Gamm Stage Presents the U.S. Premiere Of THE NIGHT WATCH

The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) opens the new year with the U.S. premiere of The Night Watch, Hattie Naylor's adaptation of Sarah Waters' best-selling novel. Gamm Artistic Director Tony Estrella directs this poignant story about liberation and loss set against the disorienting backdrop of the Second World War.

Bursting with secrets and illicit affairs, The Night Watch moves backward in time through the 1940s into the frenzy of the Blitz. Like an emotional detective story, the play follows the intertwined histories of five young Londoners--played by Gamm newcomers Gillian Mariner Gordon (Kay), Erin Eva Butcher (Helen), Meg Kiley Smith (Julia) and Patrick Mark Saunders (Duncan), and Rachel Dulude (Sonya in Uncle Vanya)--as they unfold in surprising ways.

A Welsh writer best known for her Victorian-era novels featuring lesbian protagonists (Tipping the Velvet, Fingersmith), "Waters has created a stunning feat of reverse engineering," Estrella said. "Starting in 1947 London amid the rubble-strewn aftermath of the war, her story and Naylor's ambitious adaptation unfold backward through the German blitzes of 1944 and 1941. As a result, the play's heartbreaking end shines ironically like a beacon of hope. The Night Watch is a love story, a tale of resistance, and a powerful, welcome reminder of the need for decency and compassion in dark times."

The Night Watch runs from January 17-February 10 at The Gamm Theatre, 1245 Jefferson Blvd., Warwick, RI.Tickets are $44, $52 and $60; preview performances (January 17-20) are $33. Call 401-723-4266 or order online at gammtheatre.org.

In the late 1940s, calm has returned to London and people are recovering from the chaos of war. In a quiet dating agency, a bombed-out church, and a prison cell, the stories of four women and a young man unfold backward to the heart of the Blitz, revealing the secret desires and regrets that bind them together. Olivier-nominated playwright Hattie Naylor has created a thrilling, inventive adaptation of the best-selling novel by Sarah Waters (Tipping the Velvet, Fingersmith).