Chris Sainton-Clark to Perform THE NIGHT ALI DIED at Canal Café Theatre in May

The Night Ali Died, a gritty and twisting solo drama written and performed by 11-time award-winning storyteller Chris Sainton-Clark, arrives at Canal Café Theatre’s stage on May 8–10 after being spotted during its electric run at Colchester Fringe 2025. The play follows Ali Clarke, an unassuming man who witnesses a grisly murder and is placed under witness protection. Yet, despite death threats from a notorious gangster, Ali decides to leave his home, sparking a volatile chain reaction of betrayal, murder, theft, and vengeance in his home city. Piece by piece, and through the accounts of each key player, audiences discover what happened on the night Ali died.

The show is the creation of Sainton-Clark, who runs Raising Cain Productions, a theatre company dedicated to creating high-concept, bold, and cinematic theatre on a small and easily tourable scale. Chris worked with dramaturg Rosanna Mallinson, who also directs, to bring the script to life. Alongside her training at the Jacques Lecoq school of mime, Mallinson’s physical theatre background, paired with Sainton-Clark’s naturalistic script, creates a truly unique and immersive crime thriller set in the UK’s gritty underworld.

Within its first year of touring, The Night Ali Died has already picked up five awards, including The Broadway Baby Pick of the Fringe Award, the Prague Fringe 2025 Audience Vote Award, and the Colchester Fringe National Pick Award. 

Written and performed by Christopher Sainton-Clark. Directed by Rosanna Mallinson.