UK Theatre Network

Night Fright: The Nightmare of Your Life

The Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage

Ian Dickens and Chris Moreno have joined forces, gathered together a talented cast, and produced a spine-tingling thriller that takes you down more blind alleys and dead ends than a dysfunctional sat-nav.

Night Fright, by Roger S. Moss, tells the story of newly-married Frank and Jenny Gilman. Having found the home of their dreams in an idyllic country village, they look forward to their future together. However, all is not as it seems and their dream soon becomes a nightmare.

Returning from their exotic honeymoon a day earlier than expected, they are thrust into the middle of a macabre secret enterprise that is going on all around them. As they attempt to discover what is happening, they are attacked by intruders, lied to by locals and forced to fight for their very lives.

Paul Opacic and Helen George play Frank and Jenny to perfection. The sexual chemistry between them is palpable and they are a convincing couple. Ben Roberts is brilliant as the evasive and slightly untrustworthy estate agent, Mr Watson, but it is Louise English, as the Lesley Joseph-esque Jacqui Henderson, who absolutely steals the show as she prowls around in black knee-length stiletto boots and a black leather mini.

The script is tight and the direction is slick as the tension builds to its nerve-jangling crescendo. Several ingenious red herrings and plot devices throw you off the scent, and the revelation of what has been happening under the Gilman’s noses drew gasps of breath from the audience.

Night Fright is a top-notch thriller that has been beautifully staged and is superbly performed.

Steve Burbridge.