Another new play for me at The Little Theatre in Leicester and another evening of murder and intrigue. This production of Night Must Fall by Emlyn Hughes was directed by Mary Jones and it had just the right balance of humour and darkness.

The action takes place in the sitting room of Mrs Bransom’s remote property and the set, designed by Phil Newman, was a delight to behold. I am always impressed by the sets at the Little and this one was no exception to that state. There are only a couple of set changes which helps keep the story moving although those two set changes were a little protracted – made more noticeable because of the flow at all other times however there were no other technical issues which, following a whole raft of shows recently with slight tech issues, was a welcome change.

There are some standout performances throughout as we are introduced to the cantankerous Mrs Bransom impeccably and believably played by Elizabeth Spendlove. I have seen Elizabeth in a few shows at the Little now and she never lets me down. The chemistry between Bransom, her niece Olivia (Carla Lawes) and Dan (David Knight) is so good to watch and we move seamlessly from laughter to anticipation and then into suspense. The palpable tension between Lawes and Knight keeps the audience on its toes as they mentally dance around each other and these two actors add so much to the overall production in terms of adding tension and suspense. Knight, especially, is very good at his craft and, even to an audience who knows he is a bit of a con artist, he keeps us waiting and anxious as to what his next move might be.

They are supported very ably by the rest of the cast and, despite the script being quite wordy at times, it didn’t make me feel like it was dragging at all – something I did worry about when I opened the programme and saw that there were three acts – distributed over two halves but that worry was unnecessary as the length was just right. Kudos also needs to go to the lighting and sound teams whose designs and execution added yet another layer to cement the professionalism of the production.

I am not going to go into the plot of the show because I don’t want to give any spoilers which means that my review looks quite short (I know – unusual for me) but suffice it to say that I had a very enjoyable evening which kept me on the edge of my seat even as I laughed at the duplicity of Mrs Bransom and her interactions with the rest of the cast.

I really do think that this cast and crew deserve an audience and you can get your tickets here. Night Must Fall runs at The Little Theatre, Leicester until Saturday October 31st. Tickets gifted for an honest review.