Night Must Fall

Night Must Fall

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Night Must Fall, by Williams, Emlyn
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Title: Night Must Fall
Author: Williams, Emlyn
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year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on May 15, 2003]
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EMLYN WILLIAMS
NIGHT MUST FALL
A PLAY IN THREE ACTS
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
THE PERFORMING RIGHTS OF THIS PLAY ARE FULLY
PROTECTED, AND PERMISSION TO PERFORM IT, WHETHER
BY AMATEURS OR PROFESSIONALS, MUST BE GAINED IN
ADVANCE FROM THE AUTHOR'S SOLE AGENT, WALTER
PEACOCK, 60 HAYMARKET, LONDON, S.W. I.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE VAN
REES PRESS
EH
To M. W.
THE CHARACTERS
(_in the order of their appearance_)
THE LORD CHIEF JUSTICE MRS. BRAMSON OLIVIA GRAYNE
Her niece HUBERT LAURIE NURSE LIBBY MRS. TERENCE Mrs.
Bramson's cook DORA PARKOE Her maid INSPECTOR BELSIZE
DAN
BEFORE THE PLAY
The Court of Criminal Appeal
_The action of the play takes place in the sitting-room of Forest Corner,
Mrs. Bramson's bungalow in Essex.

The time is the present_.
ACT I: A morning in October.
ACT II SCENE I: An afternoon twelve days later. SCENE II: Late
afternoon, two days later.
ACT III SCENE I: Half an hour later. Nightfall. SCENE II: Half an
hour later.

BEFORE THE PLAY
_The orchestra plays light tunes until the house lights are turned down;
the curtain rises in darkness, accompanied by solemn music. A small
light grows in the middle of the stage, and shows the_ LORD CHIEF
JUSTICE _sitting in judgment, wearing wig and red robes of office, in
the Court of Criminal Appeal. His voice, cold and disapproving,
gradually swells up with the light as he reaches his peroration_.
LORD CHIEF JUSTICE: ... and there is no need to recapitulate here
the arguments for and against this point of law, which we heard in the
long and extremely fair summing up at the trial of the appellant at the
Central Criminal Court. The case was clearly put to the jury; and it is
against sentence of death for these two murders that the prisoner now
appeals. Which means that the last stage of this important and
extremely horrible case has now been reached. On a later page in the
summing up, the learned judge said this ... (_turning over papers_) ...
"This case has, through the demeanour of the prisoner in the
witness-box, obtained the most widespread and scandalous publicity,
which I would beg you most earnestly, members of the jury, to forget."
I cannot help thinking that the deplorable atmosphere of sentimental
melodrama which has pervaded this trial has made the theatre a more
fitting background for it than a court of law; but we are in a court of
law, nevertheless, and the facts have been placed before the court. A
remarkable and in my opinion praiseworthy feature of the case has been
that the sanity of the prisoner has never been called into question; and,
like the learned judge, the Court must dismiss as mischievous pretence
the attitude of this young man who stands convicted of two brutal

murders in cold blood. This case has, from beginning to end, exhibited
no feature calling for sympathy; the evidence has on every point been
conclusive, and on this evidence the jury have convicted the appellant.
In the opinion of the Court there is no reason to interfere with that
conviction, and this appeal must be dismissed.
_The chords of solemn music are heard again, and the stage gradually
darkens. A few seconds later the music merges into the sound of church
bells playing far away, and the lights come up on_.

ACT I
_The sitting-room of Forest Corner_, MRS. BRAMSON'S _bungalow
in a