Sami Zahringer, Ojai Valley News
It’s 1935 in the English countryside and a woman with a reputation for scandal is missing from a luxurious country hotel. The papers are full of it and the denizens of a quiet, isolated household near to the hotel where she was last seen are all atwitter with sensational horror. The gleeful hand-wringing, however, soon turns into a dark foreboding when the woman’s body is found in the house’s rubbish heap. Suddenly, the safe, rural home seems not so safe after all.
In order to mark the Art Center Theater’s 80th anniversary, artistic director Richard Camp (also the director of the play) looked in the vaults to 1939 to find the first play ever performed there and discovered that the distinction belonged to the popular thriller, “Night Must Fall” by Emlyn Williams.
The house in question belongs to Mrs. Bramson, a disagreeable, miserly old hypochondriac who cultivates her invalid status like a hothouse orchid, bullies her impoverished and dependent niece, Olivia, and badgers her frequently unpaid staff relentlessly.
Enter Dan, a handsome and winningly roguish, silver-tongued bellhop from the hotel where the murdered woman had stayed. He has been summoned by Mrs. Bramson because he has made her guileless maid, Dora, pregnant. It soon becomes clear he knows more about the victim than he is letting on, but is he her murderer?
Dan’s conniving nature quickly reveals itself. He flatters the old lady, encouraging her fantasies about her fragile health and pretty soon he has his feet under the table, making himself indispensable to her, but, all the while, is plotting to steal her considerable fortune.
Sindy McKay, as the foolish, beguiled Mrs. Bramson, does a wonderful job of seeming to court her own downfall, arrogantly refusing to disbelieve her own delusions right up until her final moments.
Niece Olivia, watchful, careful and clever, sees Dan’s unctuous exploitation of her aunt right from the start, but he attracts and intrigues her as much as he repulses her. Angelica Smith in the role radiates buttoned-up sexual repression and a veering confusion she can barely contain. The chemistry between her and Dan is palpable, especially in Act II as they face off psychologically. The charged atmosphere between them is mesmerizing and, on opening night, one could have heard a pin drop as the hushed audience held its breath as one. The complicated, psychological dance between the two is at the heart of the story.
The success of this play largely depends on the actor playing Dan being able to create the right balance between cheeky-chappie and dangerous seducer. In this striking production, David Nelson Taylor walks that line skillfully like a high-wire-balancing act and evokes the same sense of breathless tension. He switches from warm, glib charmer to exuding a cold, sinister menace with chilling swiftness.
The cast-supporting actors do a fine job of adding color to the piece. Olivia’s hapless suitor, Hubert, (excellently played with the right note of bland tweediness by Stephen Shareaux), acts as a foil to the charming but subliminally threatening Dan. Denise Heller is all no-nonsense practicality as the much-called-upon Nurse Libby, displaying all the patience that her crotchety patient lacks; and Dora is played with appealing ditziness by Brett Baxter. Some broad comic relief from the tension is provided by loud, Cockney housekeeper Mrs. Terence (Laura Ring). The rich, authoritative voice of Louis Graham in a robust performance asater, making the law’s long reach seem inevitable.
Camp adroitly directs his well-cast actors and has assembled a skilled crew to create a handsome production. The suspense, particularly in the second act as the story reaches fever-pitch, builds convincingly, while not seeming rushed, and the psychology of this 1930s thriller still seems fresh and exhilarating for a modern audience. This is a fitting and worthy show to start off a richly varied and promising 2019 season.
Now playing at the Ojai Art Center Theater, “Night Must Fall” is a classic whodunit, broadly in the style of Agatha Christie, a psychological drawingroom drama with a sense of Hitchcockian dread.
“Night Must Fall” runs through March 10. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m For tickets, call 805-640-8797 or go to OjaiAct.org. The Ojai Art Center Theater is at 113 S. Montgomery St.