Alone in the 'Dark'

Strangely enough, Wait Until Dark is one of the few plays that actually works better as a film. Just ask Quentin Tarantino--this summer, he starred in a miserably static Broadway production of the play that paled in comparison to the genuinely frightening 1967 film starring Audrey Hepburn. In addition to its complex roles, which require subtle yet stead-fast interpretation, it is an immensely technical production filled with lighting and staging tricks that require consistently perfect timing. Thus, when the Adams House Drama Society announced that it was staging Wait Until Dark in the claustrophobic Pool Theater, eyebrows were raised all over campus and curiosity was piqued.

But producer Max Montel '01 and director Josh Edelman '00 have managed to avoid any possible pitfalls with this new production--their Wait Until Dark is a chilling and remarkably coherent character study that rolls like a runaway train.

The plotline is packed with twists and turns that are far more clever (and thus more rewarding) than those of the average thriller. The suspense begins when Sam Hendrix (Mike Yank '02) is asked to hold a doll for a woman as they get off an airplane. The woman promptly disappears--until small-time hoods Mike Talman (Joseph Nuccio '00) and Carlino (Jerry Ruiz '00) find her body in Suzy Hendrix' apartment, placed there by their new employer, Harry Rote (Paul Monteleoni '01). Suzy's blindness allows them to search the apartment for the doll, which contains smuggled heroin. Mike manages to gain Suzy's confidence by pretending he is an old friend of her husband; while her husband is away, the crooks invent a story of a police investigation of her husband from which only the discovery of the now missing doll can save him. Rote masterminds the plot--as the story unfolds, his pursuit of Suzy becomes more and more obvious, prompting the age-old dramatic question, how can a blind woman defend herself?

Wait Until Dark requires deft stage direction and vigilant consistency since the story unfolds in real-time and the action rarely leaves the interior of the house. Ironically, the tight stage space of the Pool Theater allows this production to rise to the occasion. With careful attention to detail and placement, the crew has recreated the quaint apartment of Suzy and Sam Hendrix. Visible to the audience are the kitchen (complete with refrigerator, washer, etc.) and the living room, while the brief scenes in the bedroom are conveyed using illuminated character shadows.

For the audience to become truly involved in the increasingly complicated plotline, the production's pace cannot go slack. Wait Until Dark is a psychological chess game: We must be privy to all of Suzie's moves and the thought process driving them.

This production is distinguished by the impressive grasp the actors have of their stage space and spectacular technical direction. Light designer Mike DeCleene '97 deserves the highest praise for coordinating a lighting scheme that is not only excruciatingly intricate but also a key player in the production's narrative thrills. Each scene fades into complete darkness (and when the Pool Theater goes dark, we learn, it really goes dark), adding to the sense of mystery and building towards the final climax. In fact, when the lights go out for good, DeCleene and the directors seem to have all their bases covered; they play with a number of tricky light devices in order to prevent the audience's eyes from becoming accustomed to the dark (thus making set changes visible). Ultimately, the lighting scheme and technical direction perfectly convey the thrilling novelty of Wait Until Dark--when the lights go out, we're all alone.

The actors, moreover, contribute performances that continually build tension as the play hurries towards its frenetic climax. As Suzy Hendrix, Julie L. Rattey '01 pulls off an exceedingly difficult role--she is a striking mix of inner strength and physical vulnerability. Though helpless once the contest turns physical, Suzy's always one step ahead of her stalkers (and Rattey's pensive pauses and subtle gesturing give us the sense that her character is always thinking, always plotting). As Gloria, Suzy's teenage helper, Kate Johnsen '01 is appropriately petulant (though she is unfortunately saddled with a number of hackneyed, static lines). Nuccio captures the "teddy-bear" duplicity of Mike Talman while Ruiz, hair slicked back and comb in tow, hams it up for laughs as the incompetent yet menacing Carlino.

Monteleoni has to deal with the most under-written part of Frederick Knott's stage play. Because Rote's cold-blooded instincts are reigned in for so much of the play and only occasionally burst into flame, the trick is to maintain consistency without flattening the role (Tarantino, in his Broadway role, completely overplayed the part, turning Rote into a caricature doomed from the outset). Monteleoni makes Rote a smarmy, slinky villain--an interpretation which occasionally becomes awkward but ultimately gels. He explodes in the final scenes with Suzy in the dark, convincing us that he has no mercy for the helpless woman whom he considers only a tiny obstacle on the path to his ultimate goal.

Wait Until Dark is a slick piece of entertainment--and thankfully, the director and actors recognize this. Instead of slowing the pace down to concentrate on character interpretation or individual relationships, the production instead moves with the full intention of involving and scaring the audience with a truly terrifying story. And they succeed--once the lights go out and the black darkness settles, we're all blind.