Photo Flash: In Rehearsal With The UK Tour Of NIGHT MUST FALL

The Original Theatre Company and Salisbury Playhouse in association with Eastbourne Theatres will present the national tour of Emlyn Williams's psychological thriller, NIGHT MUST FALL, directed by Luke Sheppard and starring Gwen Taylor as Mrs Bramson, Daragh O'Malley as Inspector Belsize, Niamh McGrady as Olivia and Will Featherstone as Dan. The tour will begin at Devonshire Park Theatre in Eastbourne on 19 August, with a National press night on Wednesday 7 September at Salisbury Playhouse.

Gwen Taylor is best known for playing the title role in the ITV sitcom Barbara, as well as Anne Foster in Coronation Street, Peggy Armstrong in Heartbeat, Rita Simcock in A Bit of A Do, for which she was nominated for a BAFTA TV Best Actress Award, and Amy in Duty Free. Her film appearances include The Lady in the Van and Monty Python's Life of Brian. Gwen has just finished playing Daisy Worthen in Driving Miss Daisy at Dublin's Gaiety Theatre. Other theatre credits include Calendar Girls (UK Tour), the title role in the national tour of Shirley Valentine, Top Girls (Royal Court and New York), and Gertrude in Sir Peter Hall's production of Hamlet (London's Gielgud Theatre and national tour).

Daragh O'Malley is best known for his role as Patrick Harper in the long-running television series Sharpe. After a 12-year absence from the stage, O'Malley returned to the British stage in 2012, playing Father Jack in the Original Theatre Company's production of Dancing at Lughnasa. In 2014, he played Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Manchester's Royal Exchange, for which he was nominated for an MTA Best Actor Award and The Stage selected his performance as one of the Top Five Performances in UK Theatre in 2014.

Niamh McGrady is best known for playing the regular characters Mary-Claire Carter in Holby City (BBC) and PC Danielle Ferrington in three series of The Fall (BBC). Her theatre credits include Twelfth Night (Chichester Festival Theatre) and Macbeth (Chichester Festival Theatre, West End and Broadway).

Will Featherstone's theatre credits include Dr. Scroggy's War, Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It and Anne Boleyn for Shakespeare's Globe, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Comedy of Errors for Propeller, and The History Boys for Sheffield Crucible. Screen credits including Fresh Meat (Channel 4), Endeavour (ITV), Ashes to Ashes (BBC) and Midsomer Murders (ITV), as well as the forthcoming feature film A United Kingdom, starring Rosamund Pike and David Oyelowo.

Also in the cast are Alasdair Buchan as Hubert, Anne Odeke as Nurse Libby, Mandi Symonds as Mrs Terence and Melissa Vaughan as Dora.

When charming, smooth-talking Dan arrives at old Mrs Bramson's remote woodland home, he soon ingratiates his way into her life and that of her niece, Olivia. But when a local woman goes missing and is later found murdered, Olivia begins to suspect her aunt's new private assistant. She resolves to find out the truth.

Emlyn Williams wrote NIGHT MUST FALL in 1935 and played the lead role in the first stage production. The play was noted for its exploration of the killer's complex psychological state, a step forward for its genre. Robert Montgomery starred in the film version in 1937 and Albert Finney in the 1964 re-make.

NIGHT MUST FALL will be designed by David Woodhead, with sound and music by Harry Blake and lighting by Howard Hudson. The national tour is produced by Alastair Whatley and Tom Hackney for The Original Theatre Company and Sebastian Warrack for Salisbury Playhouse, in association with Eastbourne Theatres.

www.originaltheatre.com

Take a look at the cast in rehearsal below. Photos by James Findlay

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