Final casting has been announced for a major new UK and Ireland tour of ‘Double Indemnity', the gripping stage adaptation of James M. Cain’s landmark crime novel and the classic Billy Wilder-directed film noir that followed. Produced by Trafalgar Theatre Productions, the tour stars Mischa Barton (‘The O.C.') in her long-awaited UK stage debut and opens at Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne on 5th February, before touring through to May and heading into a West End season.
Barton takes on the iconic role of femme fatale Phyllis Nirdlinger, a character synonymous with seduction, danger and betrayal. She is joined by Ciarán Owens as insurance salesman Walter Huff, Martin Marquez as the incisive and suspicious Keyes, and Gillian Saker in the roles of Nettie, Waitress and Usher, while also understudying Phyllis. The company is completed by Joseph Langdon, Oliver Ryan, Sophia Roberts, Simon Victor, Estelle Cousins and Patrick Fleming, with the ensemble covering multiple roles across the production.
Adapted for the stage by Tom Holloway and directed by Oscar Toeman, this new version promises a razor-sharp and atmospheric reimagining of Cain’s “thrillingly amoral” tale.
Set in 1930s Los Angeles against the backdrop of the Great Depression, ‘Double Indemnity' follows Walter Huff, an insurance salesman whose professional instincts for spotting fraud are fatally compromised when he encounters the dangerously alluring Phyllis Nirdlinger. What begins as a routine conversation about a life insurance policy spirals into a deadly conspiracy of lust, greed and murder, as the pair plot the “perfect crime” — only to find that guilt, paranoia and mistrust threaten to destroy them from within.
Blending the glamour of old Hollywood with the moral darkness of classic noir, ‘Double Indemnity' promises a tense, seductive evening of theatre that captures the danger and allure of one of the most influential crime stories ever written.
‘Double Indemnity' plays Churchill Theatre, Bromley from 21st – 25th April. Tickets and full tour details are available now at doubleindemnityplay.com.
