WHEN charming, smooth-talking Dan arrives unexpectedly at old Mrs Bransom’s remote woodland home he soon ingratiates his way into her life. Soon too he has the same impact on her beautiful niece Olivia.

So begins Night Must Fall, the 1935 psychological thriller by Emlyn Williams that starred Robert Montgomery in the 1937 film version and Albert Finney in the 1964 re-make and is now being revived by The Original Theatre Company on a tour that is visiting York Theatre Royal this week.

Williams's story takes a turn for the darker after a local woman goes missing and is later found murdered, whereupon Olivia begins to suspect her aunt’s new private assistant and resolves to find out the truth. As the police close in, and with the press baying for blood, is anyone safe?

Taking the role of Mrs Bransom in Luke Sheppard's cast is Gwen Taylor, joined by Will Featherstone as Dan and Niamh McGrady as Olivia. "I think I saw the Albert Finney film, and I hope we're now bringing Emlyn Williams's thriller back into the public eye," says Gwen. "I'm a big fan of Terence Rattigan, whose work came back into focus with his centenary and hopefully that can happen with Emlyn Williams too."

When Williams's play was first performed, it was marked out by its exploration of the killer’s complex psychological state, a step forward for its genre. "I think it's important not to modernise it; it's set in 1935 and we're keeping it in 1935," says Gwen.

"It's a dark piece but with a lot of humour in it, and I don't think you can expect audiences to sit and suffer without some humour in there. There's the scary element, that will all happen, but the main thing is that it's a well constructed play with the wonderful setting of a house in the woods."

York Press:

Gwen Taylor as Mrs Bransom in Night Must Fall

What of Mrs Bransom, what sort of woman is she? "She's a rich widow; she's nasty; she doesn't suffer anyone; she has no friends; she has a love-hate relationship with her housekeeper and has a 'whipping boy' in her niece, Olivia, who comes to live with her," says Gwen. "Olivia is the dogsbody who does everything for her but Mrs Bransom does nothing but carp.

"I believe everyone in the house has something lacking in their life, and with Mrs Bransom she loves no-one, no-one loves her and she's just throwing her weight about with no regret. The arrival of the young man seems to set something off in her, where she's still nasty, even to him, but she's accepted he's part of her life and is happy about that, if she can ever be happy about anything."

Gwen is playing Mrs Bransom on the heels of starring as rich, sharp-tongued Daisy Werthan in Driving Miss Daisy at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin. "Daisy is abrasive, capable of hurting people but still has a warm heart, whereas Mrs Bransom doesn't have a warm heart at the bottom of it all," she says.

"I think Mrs Bransom is beyond redemption but one thing you find out late in the play is how ungodly her husband was, and while she says she doesn't mind that, she regretted that he was so unkind and so she in turn had become rude and unkind."

Beyond redemption or not, Mrs Bransom is proving a fulfilling role for Gwen. "It's a wonderful play to be in, and the only other woman I've played with such an acerbic wit was Barbara in the TV series Barbara." she says. "I want even people who are like Mrs Bransom to come to the play to see what they're really like."

The Original Theatre Company presents Night Must Fall at York Theatre Royal, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2pm, Thursday, and 2.30pm, Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

Did you know?

Emlyn Williams not only wrote Night Must Fall, he also played the lead role of Dan in the first stage production in 1935.

Charles Hutchinson