has become part of !.he ho -­-­

lay Produced 'NIGHT MUST FALL'

by Emlyn Williams Peter Ragan discusses his

production for DEWSBURY AR7S GROUP

I was very pleased to have the opportunity of directing "Night Must Fall" as some twenty-six y rs ago I had played the cen ­tral character, Dan, fo r the now defunct Dcwsbury Civic The­

atre. I was looking forward to my re-assodaUon with what must be one of lhc best thrillers of all Ume.

Emlyn Williams's play is, of cou rse, very well known. Before World War 11 It was a s mash hit In both London and New York and was also made tnto a suc ­ces ful film starring Robert Monlgomery. There have been numerous revivals , television prodUctions and thousands of repertory and amateur produc­tions of this play. A new film was made in the 1960's with Albert Finney in the main role. The play has been re-WJitlen and the new script was printed !n 1988. The fi rst problem, then , was to decide on which script to use. After some consideration I went for the original. which had stood Mr. Williams tn good stead for more than fifty years. This mcant that the piece would truly be of Its period - 1935. The sLilwd dialogue of some scenes wou ld inevitably also reflect this period, but could prove difficult in dcllvery to a present day audi­ence. Ocwsbury Arts Group presents six major produclion_ each year and the followtng season's pro-

Amateur Stage Nouember 1990

granune Is announced tn June giving each director plenty of time for preparatory work. PLOT The action of the play takes place tn the living-room of "For­est Comer", a bungalow tn Es­sex owned by Mrs. Bramson. Mrs. Bramson Is confined to a wheelchair and Is waited on hand and foot by a maid, a

housekecper and her niece, who Is employed as a secretary and companion. We learn that the maid Is tn the family way, the culprit being a page boy at thc village hotel, the "Tallboys". As the year is 1935 this makes the situation a serious one and the page boy Is sent for to cxplatn his tntentlons. Before his arrival the bungalow receives a visit from Inspector Bclslze, a Scotland Yard detec­tive, whose men are searching the nearby woods for a lady guest of the "Tallboys· who has gone misstng. Dan, the page boy, arrives and proceeds to charm the enUre household, especially Mrs. Bramson, with the exception of the niece, Olivia, who Is suspi ­cious of him - could he be the sought-after murderer? Dan Is appointed to the household staIT and the change in Mrs. Bramson Is amazing. A sourfaced hag at the begtnning, she becomes a 'pussy cat' In Dan's hands. Dan eventually realises that the only way he can get at Mrs. Bramson's money, which she keeps tn thc housc, Is to get her on hcr own, kill her and then burn down the bungalow, mak­

1ng It look like an accident. Al though the play Is generally well-known It does not fail to grip the a udience. Its power In creating a tmosphere Is every director's dream and the end of each of the five scen I packed with theatricality and d ramatic effect. CASTING Auditions for "Night Must Fall" were held on October 11 th and rehearsals s tartt:d on December 4th. Because we have a large membership we had few prob ­lems tn castin g. On ly one part was left vacant afLer audItions bu t a tele phone call soon put that right. We were fortunate that each actor cast was In the right age group for that part and each looked physically right. Mrs. Bramson must be suitably aggreSSive and domineering: Oltvia , her nlece, very much cowed by her aunt and hCT reli­ance on her finanCially: the character of the cook, Mrs. Ter­ence, played or. stage and in the film by the rrulr",Iellous Kathleen Harrison, !s the main source of comedy - for she has no real respect fOr Mrs. Bramson, see ­ing her as both a hypochond riac and a cantankerou old woman.

demanding character - at he Is charming, men wheedl1 ng, persuasIve thctic, and psychotic - th needs a wide range ofde.livc . be truly convincing. REHEARSALS As we know. December January can be nervous for rehearsals, as bad wea and 'flu may be jusl around corner. We dJd have one or isolated cases of these dan but nolh1ng too serious to d

rupt things. Exdudtng rehearsals. twenty-two rehearo ­ala (about 50 hours) were to produce the play. We able to have three rehearsals the stage at the theatre. two

which were dress rehearsals The play has an tntroduct speech by the Lord Chief J ticc, which! chose to leave 0

Act I scts out the basic re1aL ships of the Bramson housebo and the characteristics of individuals It contatns: background to the murder expounded, and Dan is tnlI> duced. This scene Is Inclined be a bit 'Wordy' and needs a g pace to carry the wealth ofW mation. By Act II Scene 1 0

Cameo roles are provided by Hubert Laurie - very dependable yet pompous and suttor to Ol ­Ivia, the visiting district nurse, and Dora, the maid, who Is eas ­Ily led. Inspector Belslze Is a fairly typi­cal s tage policeman, but fortu ­nately the script all ws him scope to avoJd the usual mun­dane 'questlon and nswer' scenes. Dan Is by far the most

hold and we see the beglnn _ of Mrs. Bramson 's adulation him, while Olivia's suspl and fascination of Dan grt>1Ii

This scene includes the exarr nation of Dan's luggage for s of b1s guil t - except a stnts ­locked hat box. . and the dm maUe discovery of the body. II Scene 2 : suspldon of D grows stronger to all but Mn Bramson, Olivia Is witness .

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one of Dan 's outburs ts In which he shows his highly d is turbed , nature. We learn too the fact lhat the head or the discovered corp e Is m1s lng - more refer­ence and s u gges tion about the possible con tents of the hat box - Olivia amaz1ngly claims the hal box as hers when the In s pector wishes to search Dan's belong­Ings. This elemenl of Olivia's fascination for Dan despite her being convinced ofhis guilt Is an element that ha s to be b rought ou t In the remaining 5ceneS. Act III Scene t contains the unmas.k­Ing ofDan to lhe audience when he retu m s to the cottage. where Mrs. Bmmson Is alone, with the aim of killing her and escaplng with her wealth . The tension bu il t u p by t.~e panic of the old woman realising she has been left alone Is broken viciously by Dan's return; she now believes she Is safe though the audience know full well L"uit Dar! has other Ideas. 111J5 scene. se t 10 firclight almost enl:lrely, 18

guaranteed to make audiences gasp. The final scene reveals Dan fu lly and he Is apprehended - though Olivia's concern sug­gests that sbe mightyet be party to helping him avoid justice. Each scene can be reUed upon 10

build to a strong and hIgh1y dramatic ending. DESIGN

Dewsbwy Arts Centre stage is unusual Lo design fo r. The pro ­scenium opening Is 20' wide with doors of enLrance to right and left of the arch Itselfopening onto a 6 ' apron : but from curta1n line to the back cyclorama wal l there Is only 9'4". This meant !nev!tably tak1ng the set through thc curla1n line and onlo the apron , and sacriflctng the use of a main tab. The director was happy that he could adjust ends ofscenes to cope with having no curtain. Since the character of Mrs. Bramson spen ds mos t of her Urnc In a wheelchair this meant extra consideration [or the doors that she had to manoeuvre through, especially when the action suggested her taking some exits and entrances 'at s~d', and that actual doors were essential, The 'country­cottage' atmosphere suggested the use of'beams' and almost a pseu do- tudor Interior. Four

Amateur Stage November 1990

doors, wlndows and a porch (cu rlalned) meant that wall space was at a minJ.mum and one large piece of furni ture, a d resser with locking cupboard, was vital - this was built In to the set. The design also had the su ggestion of a fireplace at the fron t of the s tage. All curtains were on poles with wooden rings - both for au then­Uclty and , In the case of the porch, for the 'dramatic' en­trance ofDan In the final scenes. A cou ntry-style latch was also used on the front door, the

sound of which added to the effect of Its being a 'country­cottage', as well as belng a dra­matic sound In Itself. Period furniture was borrowed and/or hired, Newspapers had to be doctored to look correct. A period wheelchatr proved to be too large, and a more modern one was used, su itab ly dis ­tressed to give It some apparent age. Dan's liberal sprinkling of the set with 'paraffin' plior to his attempt to set fire to the cottage meant that part of the set was well -watered each night. Over­all colour, pale ochres and dark b rowns: aU 'wood' was glazed to give It the look or some years of polishing. Costurnlng: although the 1930's can be a difficult period to cos ­tume, the Dewsbury Arts Group wardrobe Is extensive enough to cove r this, only a 'Page Boy' costume had to be hired fo r Dan's first entrance. LIGIlTlNG Act I - A fine morning 10 October - Sunshine at upstage window.

Act 11 Scene I - The same. Act II Scene 2 - !..ate Afternoon ­Light approaching d usk.

Act III Scene I - Half an hour later - Light fading, F1re light. Oil Lamp lit - Warm light from upstage 011 Lamp. Daylight fades to night. Act III Scene 2 - A few minutes later - Lamp and Fire light. The stage Is lit In four areas with cool tints to suggest reflected daylight. The window down­stage left Is covered by two Fresnel Spots, one through and one above to brighten anyone

moving towards the window. Sunlight Is proVided by two Par­cans to give a s trong pale au­tumn sunlight. A batten and floods light the backing In strong blue, this Is lightened for the daylight scenes by the spill light from the Parcans and the twi ­

light Fresnel. The upstage en­trances wcre highlighted In a neutral tlntto fOllow the warm or cool dom1nant lighting. The set was covered by three lanterns per side In a warm tint for the lamplit scenes. The oil lamp upstage was reinforced by two backlighting spots. As the oU lamp Is upstage the only realistic source of light from the audie nce' side Is the reflected lamplight from the downstage 'wall'. 'nte fire was thus madc a motivating light source from downstage, this had to be rein­forced and the only practical solution was to mount two pro­flle spots on window ledges In the auditorlum. This low angle enabled us to create atmosphere shadows In the a ctors faces and

on the walls of the seL The desired shade of fireligh t was arrived at by sub trac tive m1xing of two colour mediums. The play was controlled by an 18 way manual dimmer board. MUSIC AND SOUND I decided to use the firn t move­ment of Holsfs Planets (Mars) for Introducing and end ng ea ch scene . This muslc Is very dra­matic and I began to wonder if perhaps I ha d gone over the top, but my fears proved unfounded, as In performance the m usic was just right. Tchaikovsky's No. 6 Symphony was my sdec­tion for the final curtain , The last five minu tes of the play should be played low key and the audience s hould find some sadness now that the villain of the piece ha s been appre­he nded. This music sh ould enhance the sympathetic fed ­Ings towards Dan who is, In some ways, a likeable rogue, 'nte only other sound n.-qutn:­

ment was the distant sound of church bells . FOOTNOTE The performc"'lnces went accord ­Ing to plan with very few snags and were well received byaudl­ences a nd the Press. However, on ecortesponden t thought that, whilst he enjoyed the perform ­ances, the play was oUl of date. I find It difficult to unders tand how a classic thriller can ever become out of dale, AIter Wednesday nJgbfs per­formance the theatre was bro­ken Into and several p rops from the stage went rnlsslng. These Included a silver tea service, a cigare tte case and , would you believe It, a pair of handcuffs. The handcuffs were h1rcd and being a u thentic 1930' period could not be replaced. New props were quickly found In time for Thursday. We were lucky that the Intrude rs did not van ­daUse the set or damage the cos tumes . They al:so forced open the locked hat bol( u sed In the production - thcy obviously had not seen tile play; If they had, they wouldn't have been too keen on finding out what the contents of It werel 0

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