Vertigo's Noir adapted into free audio drama

Published: 5 June 2020
Reporter: David Chadderton

Noir 2017 poster image

Manchester-based Vertigo Theatre Productions hopes to raise money for Acting for Others in the UK and The Actors Fund in the US by reviving its 2017 hit play Noir written by Craig Hepworth adapted into a two-hour audio play, available for free.

The original cast reunited over Zoom to record the show, which promises to transport listeners to 1940s New York, “for a night of romance, desire, manipulation and murder.”

Detective Sal Pelletier tells the story of one of his most memorable cases. Veronica Smart is a beautiful 39-year-old woman married to Cliff for 16 years, but she’s now grown tired of the marriage and wants out. Meeting a group of teenagers, she sets in motion a plan that will include seduction, passion, lies and manipulation, and by the end nobody will be left unscathed.

The recording is available to listen to on the Vertigo Theatre Productions web site for free, but the company is asking for donations to Acting for Others in the UK or The Actors Fund in the US, as both organisations are helping crew, creatives etc with essentials to live during the shutdown.

Vertigo has also announcing that, once the cast can safely get together, it will be staging the follow-up show Noir 2—Welcome to the Club, a new story set in 1930s New York in which Detective Sal Pelletier opens up his case file to tell the story of a club, the mob, a double cross and a New Year's Eve to remember. Written and directed by Craig Hepworth, Noir 2 will open in November 2020, in front of either a live or a live-streaming audience.

At present, it is planned that original Noir cast members Emma Morgan, Richard Allen, Stuart Meevens and Luke Richards will return in new roles for Noir 2. More casting and information will be announced soon.

*Some links, including Amazon, Stageplays.com, ATG Tickets, LOVEtheatre, BTG Tickets, Ticketmaster, The Ticket Factory, LW Theatres and QuayTickets, are affiliate links for which BTG may earn a small fee at no extra cost to the purchaser.

Are you sure?