Star’s illness cuts short Edinburgh Festival season

Actress Ningali Lawford-Wolf, the star narrator of The Secret River, is understood to be seriously ill in hospital.

Actor Ningali Lawford-Wolf is believed to be seriously ill in hospital.

Actress Ningali Lawford-Wolf, the star narrator of The Secret River, is understood to be seriously ill in hospital, forcing the cancellation of two performances of the Sydney Theatre Company show at the Edinburgh Festival.

Kimberley-born Ms Lawford-Wolf, who plays the narrator Dhirrumbin, has her face plastered over Edinburgh bus stops and on the London Tube on posters promoting the show. Her performance received a rapturous reception from UK audiences and critics until she fell ill two days ago.

Theatregoers attending a performance in which cast changes were made to deal with the star narrator’s absence said the show was still “excellent”.

“First play I’ve seen that made me tearful,” one attendee tweeted. “Sending best wishes to Ningali Lawford-Wolf who was too unwell to perform.”

An STC spokeswoman confirmed only that two performances were cancelled in Edinburgh “due to cast illness”.

The play, an adaptation of Kate Grenville’s novel first performed in Sydney in 2013, has been praised by The Times’ as “a sweeping saga with deep currents”. Respected Guardian critic Michael Billington says it “combines masterly storytelling with metaphorical resonance”.

Billington said the production was “ideal”, with only a criticism of the volume of the accompanying music that he said obscured the narrator’s voice. “Having ­en­trusted the story’s narration to the powerful figure of Ningali Lawford-Wolf, it seems a pity that so many of her words are ­obscured by the score.” The play was due to run at Edinburgh’s King’s Theatre until a final matinee yesterday. It moves to a London season at the National Theatre from August 22 to September 7.

A well-known face on TV, film and stage, 52-year-old Lawford-Wolf has starred in celebrated Australian films including as Molly’s mother in Philip Noyce’s film Rabbit-Proof Fence and Willie’s mother in the film of Broome-based musical Bran Nue Dae.