BWW Reviews: Theatre Harrisburg's WAIT UNTIL DARK at the Krevsky Center

When WAIT UNTIL DARK opened on Broadway in 1966, Frederick Knott's play (which moved through five different theatres, contributing to the problem) was not an entire success despite the dramatic powers of Lee Remick and Robert Duvall - yet it was a hit in the West End with Honor Blackman, and the film version the following year, with Audrey Hepburn and Richard Crenna, was wildly popular. It has its cliché moments, yes, when it feels slightly reminiscent of SORRY, WRONG NUMBER, and it's showing some signs of datedness now (a rotary dial phone with cords? Remember those?), but it has always had its moments, and a good performance of it can still raise drawn breaths if not outright screams at those moments, even from people who know the play or the film already. Lewis Silverman's production of it at Theatre Harrisburg gets those drawn breaths, and even a few chills up the spine.

The play is, at its root, an outsider's look into the world of a blind woman at a moment when it is falling apart drastically and dangerously. It's hard for a sighted person to perform as if visually impaired, but this production's Susy Hendrix, Tara Herweg, has clearly worked at it, using a consultant to learn to inhabit a sightless world. Her portrayal certainly brings across the fears and difficulties facing the visually impaired, as well as the skills employed to make a world of light and color accessible when it cannot be seen. Her face is a study in incomprehension of the visual and fear of unknown obstacles in her path. But she is hardly a helpless heroine - Susy Hendrix, unlike many of the heroines of stage mysteries and thrillers, is one of the most resourceful female characters of the middle twentieth century, and that in itself is a delight, as is the reminder that a visually impaired person can take care of themselves competently. This is a relatively early stage portrayal of a disabled main character trying to overcome a crisis, and Herweg comes through admirably.

Susy, alone in her house with her husband away, is being set up for robbery by three con men, none of whom are using their real names (which we never learn), but who call each other "Mike Talman," "Sergeant Carlino," and "Harry Roat, Jr." The major one, in terms of both setting up the situation and of stage appearance, is Talman, who is both smarter than Carlino and less violent than Roat; he is a con man with a romance-schtick routine, and, though without the romance, he uses his charm on Susy to convince her that he is a sympathetic friend of her husband's. Kerry Mowery, recently Underling in Theatre Harrisburg's THE DROWSY CHAPERONE, is a fine Talman, showing both Talman's contrived sympathy and the actual sympathy he develops for Susy towards the end of his con - Talman is the bunco artist who loses sight of the goal and develops feelings for the mark, something guaranteed not to sit well with his business associate, Roat.

Anthony Ariano and Jeremy Burkett are Carlino and Roat, respectively. Carlino is allegedly a police detective, working his part in the con as well as he can, unaware that Susy may be sightless but that her hearing is excellent. Ariano brings a touch of necessary humor to the part; the show is one that desperately needs its humorous moments, as it is almost impossible to keep the show - and the audience's nerves - taut for prolonged periods without small bits of relief. Burkett brings to Roat a nervous energy that makes his violent outbursts believable when they come.

The hidden gem in the cast is Gabi Hemsch as Gloria, the upstairs neighbors' child who helps Susy occasionally. In turns secretive, catty, and fearful, Gloria starts out unsure she likes Susy, at least that day, but as the situation develops she becomes as resourceful in her own way as Susy is in hers. Hemsch, who played Amaryllis in this season's THE MUSIC MAN for Theatre Harrisburg, is one of those child actors who is really delightful to watch in action. One hopes she will stay on the area stage for some time to come.

The other actors - Brandon Rubinic as Susy's husband Sam, Robert C. York and Douglas Miller as police officers - are equally competent, though their roles are far lesser than the others.

Although the first act feels just a bit slow in its development, and one or two of the cast take a few moments to warm into their roles as one watches, it is certainly not unsatisfactory. But it is the second act of WAIT UNTIL DARK that is what the audience is there for, especially for the ending. And the second act does not disappoint. A game of cat and mouse with Roat and Susy (with the assistance of Gloria), few scenes are as effective in the history of stage thrillers. Though many in the audience may find themselves in the dark, as it were, as to what they are watching, the pacing is fine and the tension at the end is satisfactorily unrelenting, as Susy employs the best means possible of leveling the playing field between herself and Roat. The ending is tightly directed and choreographed, and altogether worthwhile.

Kudos to Nels Martin for a fine set that indeed evokes a cramped basement apartment, and to Rubinic as sound designer for a collection of music that truly sets the mood for the play.

Through March 24, at the Krevsky Center. Call 717-214-ARTS (tickets are through Whitaker Center) or visit theatreharrisburg.com.

Photo Credit: Theatre Harrisburg

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