The Conductor by Didier Caron

This play is a gripping thriller that evolves from a much more innocuous-seeming and almost comic start. After a concert performance, H P Miller, an eminent conductor of a famous Swiss orchestra, receives a visit in his dressing room from a Strange Little Man from Belgium, Léon Dinkel. The fawning Mr Dinkel declares himself to be Miller’s biggest fan, asks for his autograph and promptly disappears. He is soon back however, asking for more, and, little by little, his requests slowly become more pressing and increasingly threatening. It transpires that Dinkel knows a lot more about Miller’s past than Miller, and more importantly his adoring public, ever realised, including a dreadful, dark secret that Miller thought he had buried for ever…

The Conductor (Original title: Fausse note) is Didier Caron’s tenth play. It was first performed in France in 2019 and published by Éditions du Théâtre de la Contrescarpe in October that year. The Conductor has been translated into Russian, Italian, Dutch and other languages, and has been professionally staged in those countries. The latest run of the play in Italy begins on 2 December 2021 at the Teatro Brancati in Catania, Sicily. The script has been translated by Charlie and this production will be the first time the piece is performed in the UK.