Harrogate theatre company Woodlands drama group back in rehearsal for 10 Rillington Place

The play has been adapted from the screenplay of the celebrated 1971 film starring Richard Attenborough and John Hurt.

Then lockdown hit the country, and the group. Like so many others, the company had to shelve their plans for the foreseeable future.

However, now its members have dusted off their lines and are in rehearsals for the production which will be staged in January in the Studio Theatre at Harrogate Theatre.

In 1948 a young couple, Timothy and Beryl Evans and their baby daughter Geraldine rent a small flat in a terraced property in London, Notting Hill; 10 Rillington Place.

Within two years both Beryl and Geraldine had been murdered at the property and Timothy Evans had been hanged for the murder of his child. The man who lived in the downstairs flat was John Reginald Halliday Christie, a soft spoken and seemingly gentle man who served as a special constable.

He was, in fact a murderer who had already killed two women by luring them to his home and strangling them.

Charlie Spencer plays Timothy Evans and Alison Gilmour is Beryl Evans. Christie is being played by new member Clive Kirkham and the play is being directed by Howard Atkin and Pippa Bogle.

The play contains scenes of an adult nature and is unsuitable for children. It can be seen at Harrogate Theatre studio from Thursday, January 27 to Saturday, January 29, daily at 7.30pm.

There is a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm. Tickets are available from the box on 01423 502116.