Napa’s Valley Players have opened their production of Emlyn Williams’ classic thriller, Night Must Fall. It runs at the Yountville Community Center through Oct. 25.
It’s 1935 in an isolated home deep in the forest of Essex, where a houseful of seemingly ordinary people have their lives turned upside down by murder. Mrs. Bramson (Mellene Miller) is an invalid who is hated by her cook, Mrs. Terrance (Jessica Romero), and her maid, Dora (Courtney Harris), and barely tolerated by her niece, Olivia (Tara Rokstad), and Olivia’s hapless wannabe fiancé, Hubert (Richard Pallaziol).
When Mrs. Bramson learns that Dora is expecting, she decides to browbeat the father into doing the “honorable” thing. However, when the man in question, Dan (Cameron Oyen), enters the household, the menace of the forest seems to follow on his heels.
There are some really fun performances here. Romero, as the brash, sassy cook, delivers the comedic relief with a deft blend of timing and delivery. Pallaziol’s bumbling and very upright Hubert naturally moves into pathos, and the audience genuinely feels bad for him when things play out. Alex Ivey, who plays the inspector investigating the murders, has a great stage presence and an oddly calming impact, which pairs well with the manic energy Oyen brings to the stage.
The set by Rhonda Bowen is gorgeous, with great attention paid to little things that make the setting feel more realistic and more like a home. Costumes (no designer listed) are similarly understated, allowing the characters to become extensions of the house itself.
While there was some really good work being done here, and it is well worth the excursion to Yountville, there were a few oddities. For one, Bowen has Olivia deliver at least two major speeches facing the back wall, and one looking into a mirror, again away from the audience. Even with a mic on to ensure the words can be heard, so much is lost to an audience when we cannot see a character’s face. If the intent was to isolate Olivia from the audience, then it worked.
Secondly, there are those mics. The problems of mics in a straight play, especially in such a small house, can be numerous. In this particular instance, the levels and speaker placement were misaligned, meaning that every single line in the first scene echoed. Hopefully, this will be rectified.
Overall, this is a fun spooky-season play with a good cast reminding us no one is safe from evil.
Valley Players presents ‘Night Must Fall’ through Oct. 25 at the Yountville Community Center, 6516 Washington St. Fri–Sat, 7pm; Sun, 2pm. $27–$30. 707.948.6273. valley-players.com.
