Interview: Actor Tony Timberlake on WHEN DARKNESS FALLS tour

Inspired by true events, James Milton and Paul Morrissey’s When Darkness Falls draws us into dark pasts, reveals disturbing truths and explores the power of stories. Perhaps most importantly, the ones we tell ourselves.

Opening its countrywide tour at Richmond Theatre tomorrow night (8 February), we spoke to actor Tony Timberlake about performing in this spine-chilling two-hander.

Can you tell us what When Darkness Falls is about and who you play in the show?

I play John Blondel who is a History teacher. The play is about what happens when John meets up with a paranormal expert, and how the evening together progresses as they start discussing and investigating if ghosts really do exist.

Intimate ghost stories are incredibly popular on stage at the moment. With When Darkness Falls heading on tour, The Woman in Black coming to the end of its long West End run and 2:22 A Ghost Story recently opening at another West End theatre, what is it that makes this genre so popular do you think?

We all love to be scared. That thrill and rush of adrenaline, like being on a rollercoaster. 

You've performed in so many huge hit shows. What is it like to now perform in a cast of two?

As long as you get on with your fellow performer, it can be so rewarding. I am very lucky on this one as I’m working opposite the hugely talented and generous actor, Thomas Dennis. 

And what is it like to take on a newer, less well known play?

The great thing about newer pieces of work is the audience has no preconceived ideas about the piece. When you’re as lucky as we are to have one of the writers in the room, it allows for collaboration and creativity in such rewarding way. 

You're one of a few performers who successfully manages to perform in both plays and musicals. What advice would you give to performers or aspiring performers who are trying to break out of their box?

Don’t take no for an answer. Other people put up the barriers, try and be patient. Keep a look out for those moments that might help you ‘break out of the box’. What’s that great Sondheim lyric from Into the Woods? “Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor.”

You've performed in so many different shows. What has been the highlight of your career to date and is there anything you'd still like to take on?

It’s not one of the big West End credits but a new play I was lucky enough to be a part of last year: Maggie May. Made at Leeds Playhouse, co-produced with Curve Leicester and Queens Hornchurch, it was about a family whose matriarch (Maggie) is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. It was such a privilege to tell this story every night and receive such a brilliant response from the audience at every performance. 

What can audiences expect from When Darkness Falls and why should audiences come and see this at a venue near them?

It’s great night out. Scary, exhilarating and thought provoking. How and why do ghosts live in our lives? When Darkness Falls may not give you all the answers but it just might make you start to look for them………. Or will it? 

When Darkness Falls tours until April 2023, with further information available here.