Gwen Taylor to star in national tour of Night Must Fall

Casting has been announced for the national tour of Night Must Fall which opens in Eastbourne later this summer.

Luke Sheppard will direct Gwen Taylor as Mrs Bramson. Taylor, who is currently playing Daisy Worthen in Driving Miss Daisy (Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre), has acting credits including Calendar Girls (UK Tour), Barbara and Coronation Street.

Starring alongside Taylor will be Daragh O’Malley (Sharpe, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Royal Exchange) as Inspector Belsize, Alasdair Buchan as Hubert, Anne Odeke as Nurse Libby, Mandi Symonds as Mrs Terence and Melissa Vaughan as Dora. Further casting is yet to be announced.

Emlyn Williams' psychological thriller follows smooth-talking Dan as he arrives at elderly Mrs Bramson's remote woodland home and ingratiates his way into her life. When a local woman goes missing and is later found murdered, Bramson's niece begins to suspect her aunt's new mystery assistant.

First staged in 1935 starring Williams himself, the play was later made into a film starring Robert Montgomery in the 1937 version and Albert Finney in the 1964 re-make.

Director Sheppard said: "It's a privilege to direct this extraordinary play just over eighty years since the first performance. It's a gripping murder mystery with delightfully dark characters. I'm looking forward to audiences around the country discovering all the chills and thrills this rarely produced classic holds in store."

The co-production between Original Theatre Company and Salisbury Playhouse, in association with Eastbourne Theatres, will be designed by David Woodhead, with sound and music by Harry Blake and lighting by Howard Hudson.

Night Must Fall will open at Devonshire Park Theatre in Eastbourne on 19 August, after which it tours to Salisbury, Coventry, Ipswich, Southend, Cheltenham and York.