Hollywood icon Mischa Barton (The O.C.) makes her UK stage debut in Double Indemnity, the gripping adaptation of one of the greatest crime novels of the 20th Century – the story that inspired Billy Wilder’s film noir classic.

“I loved her like a rabbit loves a rattlesnake”

Los Angeles, 1930’s. Amidst the wreckage of the Great Depression, Walter Huff, a sharp-eyed insurance salesman, has built his career spotting scams. But when he meets the dangerously seductive Phyllis Nirdlinger (Barton) to discuss her husband’s life insurance policy, he finds himself drawn into a web of lust, greed, and betrayal. Together they plot the perfect crime: murder the husband, cash in the policy, and disappear into the Californian sunset.

But passion can cloud judgement, and guilt can corrode the most perfect of plans. With each step increasingly risky, and as mistrust simmers, will Walter and Phyllis outsmart the law – or each other?

James M. Cain’s thrillingly amoral masterpiece of murder, deceit, and mystery is adapted for the stage by Tom Holloway and directed by Oscar Toeman.

doubleindemnityplay.co.uk