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Dominic Power's adaptation of Boileau-Narcejac’s mesmerising thriller Celle qui n’etait plus. A story of toxic love and betrayal. A maze of deceit and shifting allegiance, where no-one can ever be sure who is the victim.

Fernand ….. John Heffernan
Lucie ….. Emma Fielding
Mariel ….. Lyndsey Marshal
Max ….. Ewan Bailey
Gautier ….. Gerard McDermott
Gendarme/Driver ….. Hasan Dixon

Directed by Tracey Neale

She’s Not There brings the world of post-war French noir to Radio 4. This adaptation of Boileau-Narcejac’s mesmerising thriller Celle qui n’était plus from 1952 is a tour de force, melding a study of the French psyche after occupation, with a story of toxic love and betrayal. Its plot is a masterpiece of deception and misdirection. It became the basis of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s classic film, Les Diaboliques.

The story revolves around a ménage à trois, as a husband, his wife and his/her lover, play an elaborate charade of infidelity and murder. Fernand is a controlling narcissist, his wife, Mariel is devout, driven by desperation, while Lucie is the enigmatic figure in both their lives. All three are caught in a maze of deceit and shifting allegiance, where no-one can ever be sure just who is the victim.

This first British radio adaptation of Celle qui n’était plus will introduce listeners to the addictive world of Boileau-Narcejac. The intimacy of audio heightens the story’s atmosphere of unease and shock and the adaptation’s music, melancholy or with an aura of cheerfulness, mocks the dangerous liaisons of the trio.

Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac reinvented the French crime novel, exploring the frustrations of post-war France through dark humour and devilishly ingenious plots, which work as a kind of literary trompe l'oeil. On its publication Celle qui n’était plus enjoyed phenomenal success. Alfred Hitchcock was eager to film it but lost out to Clouzot. Their 1954 novel D'entre les morts became the basis for Hitchcock’s masterpiece, Vertigo.

Dominic Power was an Associate Director and Editor for Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory. He created new versions of All’s Well That Ends Well, Two Gentleman of Verona, A Comedy of Errors, as well Sheridan’s A School for Scandal and Middleton and Rowley’s The Changeling. He collaborated with Andrew Hilton on a new, updated version of Moliere’s Tartuffe. Work for radio includes adaptations of Northanger Abbey and The History Man. For Drama on 3 Dominic collaborated with Sarah Hall on The Strangers’ Will and an adaptation of Sarah’s acclaimed novel, The Carhullan Army. Dominic wrote the libretto for Amir Mahyar Tafreshipour’s opera The Doll Behind the Curtain, which was produced at the Theatre Royal, Copenhagen and was released on CD this year.

John Heffernan (Fernand) played Benedick in the National Theatre’s Much Ado About Nothing last year. His television credits include A Gentleman in Moscow and This Town. Recent radio includes 50 Berkeley Square and A Room with a View.

Emma Fielding (Lucie) was in the RSC’s A Museum in Baghdad and her television credits include Sanditon and Van Der Valk. Recent radio The Cherry Orchard for Drama on 3.

Lyndsey Marshal (Mariel) was in The Bridge Theatre’s A Christmas Carol and Force Majeure at the Donmar Warehouse. Television includes Dracula and Inside Man and recent radio Joseph Andrews Revisited.

Ewan Bailey, Gerard McDermott and Hasan Dixon are currently on the Radio Drama Company.

Produced and Directed by Tracey Neale.

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