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Peer Reviews Wait
Until Dark Delivers the Chills Entire contents are copyright © 2007, Craig Nolan Highley. All rights reserved.
Real suspense in a live performance is very difficult to pull off. The closest you usually get in live theater would be Agatha Christie-type murder mysteries in which all of the tension is tied to figuring out who done it. Real edge-of-your-seat, white-knuckle suspense is usually reserved for films, where skillful editing mixed with mood-setting music and just the right amount of bloodshed can scare an audience to death. But it can be done on stage, and one of the greatest examples is the classic Wait Until Dark. Not surprisingly, it was a film director (Bonnie and Clyde's Arthur Penn) who originally staged Frederick Knott's shockingly suspenseful play when it opened on Broadway in February of 1966. At that time it featured Lee Remick in the role of Suzy, the blind heroine, and Robert Duval as Roat, the sadistic villain. It was filmed in 1967 with Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin, and again for television in 1982 with Katharine Ross and Stacy Keach. Its last major incarnation was the Broadway revival in 1998 with Marisa Tomei and (of all people) Quentin Tarantino. Now it has been revived again at Derby Dinner Playhouse, and the results do not disappoint. According to the introductory comments by director Bekki Jo Schneider, Derby Dinner has been sitting on this show for years, waiting for the right combination of timing, cast and production to come together. Well, the wait was well worth it.
The basic plot involves a young blind woman, Suzy Hendrix (Janet Essenpreis), as she becomes embroiled in an increasingly dangerous con game with two small-time crooks (J.R. Stuart and Davis Myers) and their psychotic leader Roat (Jon Huffman). Suzy has unknowingly come into possession of a doll stuffed with $50,000 worth of heroin, and Roat will stop at nothing to get it. The tension builds to a shocking climax that takes place in a darkened apartment on a stage that is littered with corpses. I have seen several productions of Wait Until Dark (I’ve even directed one myself), so I was pretty familiar with the show going in. I admit I was skeptical of whether it would really work in the theatre-in-the-round style of Derby Dinner’s stage. Some of the suspense is diminished. For example, one plot twist involves a sneak attack from behind, which the audience can unfortunately see coming way ahead of time due to the lack of a backstage area. That’s a minor quibble, though, as the acting and pacing keep the intensity of the piece going strong. Essenpreis is very convincing as Suzy. She brings just the right mix of strength and vulnerability to the role, and you really do believe she is blind. I’m not sure why she is wearing such an obvious wig, however, unless they are trying to make her look like Audrey Hepburn; that is really the show’s only distraction. Huffman is absolutely frightening as Roat; he exudes menace from the moment he enters the stage. Myers is very good as Mike, the crook with a conscience whom we find ourselves rooting for in spite of everything. And little Caroline Ford is cute (in a Jan Brady way) as Gloria, Suzy’s bratty nine-year-old upstairs neighbor and unlikely ally. John Witzke’s impressive set nicely evokes a stuffy basement apartment, and Theresa Bagan’s lighting design, absolutely critical to the production, comes off without a hitch. A word of warning: the play’s suspenseful climax is rather intense, so much so that I’d recommend against bringing small children. During the performance I witnessed, a mother had to miss the end of the show because she had to carry her frightened, screaming child out of the theater. For teens and adults, though, this is a solid evening of entertainment not to be missed.
Wait Until Dark Derby Dinner Playhouse Starring Janet Essenpreis, Davis Myers, Jon Huffman, Caroline Ford, J.R. Stuart, Matt Wallace, Tony D. Owens and Emily Martin Posted Oct. 5, 2007
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