**** “Marvellously acted and darkly atmospheric” - The Mail on Sunday
**** “Gripping … Bailey’s cast is uniformly strong” - The Times
“One of the most stylish-looking productions I’ve seen in years” - The Daily Telegraph
Director Lucy Bailey brought Andrew Rattenbury's adaptation of James M Cain's novel to the stage - famous through its film adaptations (with John Garfield and Lana Turner in 1946 and Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange in 1981) - in this premiere production for West Yorkshire Playhouse.
Lucy first worked alongside fellow “The Postman Always Rings Twice” creators Bunny Christie (designer), Django Bates (composer) and leading lady Charlotte Emmerson (Cora Papadakis) on Baby Doll. This highly acclaimed adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ classic film transferred from Birmingham to the National and the West End. As well as winning a host of plaudits, it also won Bunny Christie the Evening Standard Award for Best Design and an Olivier Award nomination in the same category.
For "Postman", with its car crashes, prison cells and desert highways, Bunny Christie designed a vast set that utilised almost every inch of the Quarry’s expansive stage, Django Bates created a rambling score to evoke the desperate wastelands of 1930's California, and Jon Buswell contributed a darkly atmospheric lighting design which deftly evoked the spirit of Film Noir.
Fate brings Frank Chambers to Twin Oaks Diner on Highway 99, where he meets and falls for Cora Papadakis - and sets out to have her. Her Greek husband, Nick poses something of an obstacle, but as the two lovers become increasingly entwined in one another, the unthinkable becomes possible... with devastating consequences. A spellbinding story of desperation and passion in 1930's California, pulsing with an sexual undercurrent and gripping plot-twists.
The production successfully transferred to the West End, with Val Kilmer in the lead role.
Critical Acclaim for the West Yorkshire Playhouse production:
**** “Marvellously acted and darkly atmospheric” - The Mail on Sunday
**** “Gripping … Bailey’s cast is uniformly strong” - The Times
**** “Patrick O’Kane is scarily brilliant as filthy, shiftless Frank” - The Mail on Sunday
“Sensationally enjoyable” - The Observer
“Lucy Bailey knows how to make the stage smoulder. She managed it four years ago when she directed Baby Doll. And she’s done it again with The Postman Always Rings Twice” - The Observer
“Lucy Bailey's enjoyably steamy production is full-on and full frontal, piling on the atmosphere” - The Guardian
“Bunny Christie’s set design is deft” - Sunday Telegraph
“Visually, the set is stunning” - The Independent on Sunday
“One of the most stylish-looking productions I’ve seen in years” - The Daily Telegraph
“[from] the same team that transposed Tennessee Williams’s Baby Doll from screen to stage and took it from Birmingham Rep to the National — and it wouldn’t surprise me if their latest effort made a similar journey.” - The Times
Frank Chambers: Patrick O'Kane
Nick Papadakis/Mr Katz: Joseph Alessi
Cora Papadakis: Charlotte Emmerson
State Cop/Barlow: Robert Jezek
Sackett: Malcolm Rennie
Jeremies/Warder: David Smith
Kennedy: Aran Bell
Madge Allen: Clara Perez
Director: Lucy Bailey
Designer: Bunny Christie
Lighting: Jon Buswell
Music: Django Bates
Sound: Mic Pool
Voice: William Conacher
Fight Director: Renny Krupinksi
Assistant Director: Sarah Punshon
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