Suspicious Minds: ‘Night Must Fall’ in Yountville
North Bay Bohemian Review by Beulah F. Vega | Oct 20, 2026
Alex Ivey and Cameron Oyen in Night Must Fall by Emlyn Williams.
Photo © Mike Padua. All rights reserved.
It’s 1935 in an isolated home deep in the forest of Essex, where a houseful of seemingly ordinary people have their lives turned upside down by murder. Mrs. Bramson (Mellene Miller) is an invalid who is hated by her cook, Mrs. Terrance (Jessica Romero), and her maid, Dora (Courtney Harris), and barely tolerated by her niece, Olivia (Tara Rokstad), and Olivia’s hapless wannabe fiancé, Hubert (Richard Pallaziol).
When Mrs. Bramson learns that Dora is expecting, she decides to browbeat the father into doing the “honorable” thing. However, when the man in question, Dan (Cameron Oyen), enters the household, the menace of the forest seems to follow on his heels.
There are some really fun performances here. Romero, as the brash, sassy cook, delivers the comedic relief with a deft blend of timing and delivery. Pallaziol’s bumbling and very upright Hubert naturally moves into pathos, and the audience genuinely feels bad for him when things play out. Alex Ivey, who plays the inspector investigating the murders, has a great stage presence and an oddly calming impact, which pairs well with the manic energy Oyen brings to the stage.
The set by Rhonda Bowen is gorgeous, with great attention paid to little things that make the setting feel more realistic and more like a home. Costumes (no designer listed) are similarly understated, allowing the characters to become extensions of the house itself.
While there was some really good work being done here, and it is well worth the excursion to Yountville…
Overall, this is a fun spooky-season play with a good cast reminding us no one is safe from evil.