Evening Standard (28/Feb/2014) - Actor revives forgotten play of Hitchcock writer

Details

• article: Actor revives forgotten play of Hitchcock writer
• author(s): Louise Jury
• newspaper: Evening Standard (28/Feb/2014)
• keywords: Academy Awards, Alfred Hitchcock, Ingrid Bergman, Michael Redgrave, Patrick Hamilton, Rope (1948)

Article

Actor revives forgotten play of Hitchcock writer

A forgotten play by the author of Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller Rope is to be revived in London for the first time in decades.

The Duke in Darkness, by Patrick Hamilton, is being adapted by Orlando Wells, actor-writer son of the late actress Susannah York.

Wells, 39, of Tooting, found a dusty first edition in the London Library and recalled a producer friend of his mother's once mentioning the 1943 premiere with Michael Redgrave. "He said it hadn't been done since."

He will present his version after adapting the tale of a duke jailed for 15 years with his servant. It is Hamilton's third thriller after Rope and Gaslight, which won Ingrid Bergman an Oscar for the 1944 film version.

The play runs at the Tabard Theatre, Turnham Green, from April 16-May 11.