Night Must Fall

Olney Theatre is offering the Washington DC area a delectable treat this Halloween season in its first-rate production of Emlyn Williams' 1930s English classic Night Must Fall (to 10/25). Billed as a psychological thriller, Night plays like a melodrama grafted onto a comedy of manners under the light, but superb direction of John Going. Noir it's not; evil is flushed out by lighting designer Dennis Parichy on James Wolk's expansive but nuanced set, big time.

This is an engrossing and absorbing production. Mr. Going rightly loses the prologue which tips the hand of the plot, cleans up the blocking, and tacks on some character motivation probably inspired by two movie versions (1937 and 1964). The surprise is not so much over the outcome, but the way it occurs and the revelation in character.

On some level you'll know "whodunit"; on another, perhaps like the characters in the play, you'll wonder. Two comments I overheard from patrons: "I always figure these out; this time I'm not sure" and "You know what's coming, but it still surprises you." The fun of the play is the way the stage world stands in relation to the audience - the characters' collective voice is essentially that of an unreliable narrator. We see them for what they are, even if they don't.

Next to farce, nothing tickles the British palette like a murder mystery. Isolated village, check, cast of quirky characters who would all like to see the central character dead (at least in theory), check, red herrings, ditto, environment matching the mood of alienation, got it, a bit of the macabre, and outsider who arrives to shake things up - yes, it's all there.

The plot and tension build in the first scene as one-by-one we meet the cast before the arrival of our mysterious stranger. Mrs. Bramson (Rosemary Prinz) holds the members of her house in thrall with her petulant mood - litigation vying with her ailments - and financial means. On the shortest of leashes is her impecunious niece Olivia (Julie-Ann Elliott) - who's got a courting Hubert Laurie (Carl Randolph) in her orbit - followed by a maid Dora (Briel Banks) - a klutz who we quickly find out is in a family way - and to a lesser degree, her cook, Mrs. Terence (Anne Stone), who'll gladly dine out on household stories in lieu of wages, and her village-rounding nurse (Kathleen Akerley). An inspector (Paul Morella) comes calling -who else - to enquire about a missing woman, both "a dipso and a nympho" to the locals. The table is set.

Dan (Tim Getman) arrives later with a bound and a smile and before he's gone a wee bit into his role, the house is turned upside down. He quickly sizes up the vanities, petty grievances, and power relationships in this field, playing off each of their needs, giving them what they want. Mr. Getman's character shows us that charisma cuts both ways in this workout performance in which he takes an early and memorable curtain call.

Olivia's found either her alter-ego or soul mate in dangerous Dan. She's got him measured, locked in - her body language speaks volumes when he's in the room - early on. Has she correctly gauged the assessment or has an imaginative streak taken hold of her faculties? Though they tried mightily to tone down Ms. Elliott's appearance with glasses, pulled-back hair (wig), and modest dress, her attractiveness seeps through. There's something going on with her and Dan and it's straight out of Krafft-Ebing. Is she fleeing because of fear or is she an accomplice to a crime?

Ms. Prinz's portrayal of her controlling character, in keeping with the production, will remind you more of a familiar aunt than Baby Jane Hudson. She slides rather than strides the boards on two wheels, when everyone's watching - the eyes have it in this production - blossoming like a rose to be plucked under the ministrations of her increasingly familiar Danny.

Supporting roles are strongly cast, particularly with Mr. Randolph as Hugh, who we last saw as Rev. Morrell in The Bay Theater Company's Candida and Ms. Stone as Mrs. Terence, who gives as good as she gets and serves as the play's comic relief valve. Ms. Akerley plays a buoyant Nurse Libby, while Briel Banks essays the dimwitted Dora, whose brief encounter with our Dan, leaves her with a profit on the balance sheet of life, though none the wiser. Mr. Morella rounds out the cast as Scotland Yard's finest, Inspector Belsize.

Costumer Liz Covey dressed all principal performers and Mr. Randolph lovingly, with attention to character, period and set design, though I did not understand the almost modern transformation of supporting actress, Ms. Parkoe, in the final scene. Dialect coach Leigh Smiley worked wonders with the leads, with accents of class and region, though a few of the lesser supporting roles could use some notes. Jarrett Pisani added just the right sound to musically transition the scenes and accompany the script.

Veteran actress Rosemary Prinz, totes around some kind of resume, with 300 productions to her credit and is on the order of a national treasure, especially to soap opera fans who know her as Penny Hughes from As the World Turns. You've probably seen her somewhere in her long career. And she still looks great!

As a piece of theater trivia, Stephen Sondheim, an admirer of Emlyn Williams' work, sought out the part of Dan in his college's (1946) production of Night Must Fall. Doing anything to get it, he took up smoking to conform to the character. "I became a confirmed and addicted smoker after that, but it was worth it" wrote Meryle Secrest in her 1998 biography (Mr. Gitman thankfully uses herbal cigarettes). Though Somdheim earned praise for it, the role apparently did him in; he lost interest in continuing a career as a performer, perhaps acting's loss, but certainly musical theater's great gain.

Sound check: Excellent, generally low to low-moderate sound levels

Program notes: Average, would benefit from the inclusion of director's and dramaturgy notes

Applause meter: 3 ½ + hands, highly recommended

Runtime: 2 hours and 10 minutes with an intermission

Photo credits: Stan Barouh