Tour Dates

(January to March 2008)

Beck Theatre Hayes 17th - 19th January

Connaught Theatre Worthing 29th Jan - 2nd February

The Lyceum Crewe 4th - 9th February

Theatre Royal Lincoln 11th - 16th February

Mercury Theatre Colchester 18th - 23rd February

Gordon Craig Thetre Stevenage 26th Feb - 1st March

Palace Theatre Southend-on-Sea 10th - 15th March

Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford 17th - 22nd March

Cast

(in order of appearance)

Ellen....................................................................................................................Katie Evans

Elizabeth Graham....................................................................................Georgina Sutton

Henry Martin..........................................................................................Stephen McGann

Gregory Black.........................................................................................Stephen Beckett

Synopsis

Ian Dickens Productions is proud to present The Late Edwina Black by William Dinner and William Morum with an all-star cast led by Stephen McGann who set female hearts racing as love rat Sean in the BBC soap opera Emmerdale and Stephen Beckett, best known for his ongoing role as Dr. Matt Ramsden in Coronation Street and his five years as PC Mike Jarvis in The Bill.

The invalid Edwina Black has died and is about to be buried when, the night before the funeral, Detective Martin from Scotland Yard arrives to say that there is some suspicion about her death and the funeral must be delayed so that a post-mortem may be carried out.
By this time we know that Edwina’s widower Gregory and her ‘companion’ Elizabeth are lovers, freed by her death and her bequeathed fortune to run away to Italy together, a plan to which Scotland Yard’s arrival puts an abrupt and unwelcome end.
Will the couple find happiness or will Edwina continue to dominate their lives in death as she did in life? The twists and turns in this gripping thriller will keep the audience on the edge of their seats until the very end. The production is directed by Ian Dickens whose company have presented some of the most critically acclaimed touring productions in recent years, such as 'The Ghost Train', 'Dangerous Corner' and 'Gaslight'.

Review

Set in the main room of Amberwood House, the residence of Gregory Black, this play covers the week after the death of Gregory's wife, Edwina.

Due to suspicious circumstances surrounding Edwina's death, Detective Henry Martin is sent to investigate. Stephen plays the role of detective extremely well - he appears as a likeable character, doing his job in an uncomfortable situation to the best of his ability. As the story unfolds however, we realise there is much more to this character than first appeared. He has an excellent grasp of the situation, but has lulled Gregory and Elizabeth (Edwina's companion, but Gregory's lover) into a false sense of security. As he starts to voice his suspicions, softly dropping comments into the conversations, the couple become increasingly unsure of each others involvement in Edwina's death.

I greatly enjoyed Stephens portrayal of the detective, and Georgina Sutton was excellent as Elizabeth. Katie Evans, too, was quite a formidable force as the doting Ellen. I have to admit to some disappointment at Stephen Beckett's performance. While competent on the whole, he lacked emotion for me in some key scenes. However, I did only see a preview performance so am hoping to be pleasantly surprised when I go again. This is a production well worth seeing though and it was good to see Stephen tackling a different kind of role.

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