Wait Until Dark

Written in the mid 60’s and probably best known for the film starring Audrey Hepburn this tense psychological thriller was an excellent choice particularly for a dark December night.

Spooky music set the tone for the action to come, and as usual with this Company the curtains opened to a simply stunning set depicting the basement flat belonging to Susy and her photographer husband Sam.

The plot centred around a drug filled doll unwittingly secreted somewhere in the flat, and a  murdered woman, as Roat a sinister con artist together with Mike and Croker, two ex-convicts, weave an intricate conspiracy in their eagerness to find the doll and, of course, the drugs.

Susy is blind and the three use this to their advantage as they call on her in various guises and with cleverly constructed deception terrify her into believing that her husband is implicated in the murder.

Eventually Susy becomes suspicious and with the help of the young girl upstairs, who had actually taken the doll from the apartment, manages to turn the tables on Roat and bring the deadly game of cat and mouse to an end.

The impressive split-level set was intrinsic to the action. The front door was placed high up stage, opening onto a landing which turned stage right leading to a well-constructed staircase, complete with banister and balustrades, down to the kitchen/living room below. A full-size period fridge freezer stood against the wall stage left, with a copper pipe leading upstairs and a set of venetian blinds on high above, again vital to what was to unfold.

The cast were all superb in their roles. Susy negotiated her way around the furniture and up and down the stairs convincingly, and successfully interpreted the use of her other senses into “smelling” a rat and unmasking the perpetrator. By fusing the lights at the end, she created a blackout taking advantage of her blindness, and awareness  of the space to initiate his demise. 

Mike pretending to be an old chum of Susy’s husband wormed his way into her confidence but in their exchanges did seem to start to warm towards her, perhaps he would have taken her side in the end if he hadn’t been pushed down the stairs – an impressive fall! 

Croker gave a believable interpretation of a typical Scotland Yard detective as he pretended to respond to Susy’s call for help, but he too fell foul of the machinations of the psychopathic Roat – and then there was one!

Roat was superbly menacing throughout and a chameleon in his various disguises as he tried to trick Susy into finding the doll and used his sidekicks to his own advantage before “bumping” them off – an excellent performance!

Gloria the girl from upstairs, made her mark and gave great support as the “lookout” for Susy, when she realised the perpetrators in their tangled web of confusion were using the blinds to signal to the phone-box outside. 

Sam the husband was sympathetically played, and the two Policeman broke in splendidly at the end in perfect uniforms!

The director skilfully built the tension from start to finish keeping the audience on the edge of their seats – very well done all round.

Any observation made by the reviewer can only be based on what they see at the performance in question.  The reviewer may have received information in advance of the performance, and it is inevitable that their assessment will be affected by that knowledge.

The N.O.D.A. Representative’s intention is to give an objective critique of the overall production and in particular the performance viewed.  It should be remembered that any review of this nature can only be objective as far as the techniques used during the performance observed.  Any criticisms expressed may not have been valid at other performances and are only made to encourage higher standards in Amateur Theatre.

It is hoped that the audience’s appreciation of your efforts will have given everyone a lift and encouraged you to greater achievements in the future and that the observations made by the reviewer will prove helpful in improving future productions.

 

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