“Wait Until Dark” has become a classic of the American Theatre canon. The Durango Arts Repertory Theatre Company does the thriller justice in a taut, well-conceived production. “WUD” is the third offering in DAC’s thematic summer season: Murder, Mystery and Mayhem.
Because “WUD” has an illustrious history in both theater and film, its provenance is worth a quick summary. Frederick Knott’s 1966 suspense-drama created a sensation on Broadway when it opened starring Lee Remick and Robert Duvall. It ran for 373 performances and opened in London a year later with a British cast. It ran there two years. In 1967, the play’s success drew Hollywood into the scheme and a film version starring Audrey Hepburn quickly appeared. A British film version quickly came out under a different title, “Blind Terror,” starring Mia Farrow. Twenty years later, a second American film version filled movie screens starring Katherine Ross and Stacey Keach.
Broadway stage revivals began in 1979 and continued in 1998, 2003 and 2010. With commercial success guaranteed, in 2013, the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles commissioned American playwright Jeffrey Hatcher to revise and shorten the script. Hatcher’s smart reshaping Knott’s original script has enabled colleges and community theaters to mount productions that underscore the thriller’s place in the halls of great crime drama.
If you go
WHAT: “Wait Until Dark,” a thriller by Frederik Knott, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, presented by the Durango Arts Repertory Theatre, directed by Wendy Ludgewait.
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, to Sept. 28; 2 p.m. Sept. 22 and 29.
WHERE: Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave.
TICKETS: Adults $20/students $15.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.durangoarts.org/theatre or call 259-2606.
Last weekend, director Wendy Ludgewait and her creative team opened a tight production at DAC. It runs through Sept. 29.
The revised version turns the original ’60s time frame back to 1944. Hatcher also cut extraneous characters, like a passel of cops, and transformed the object of criminal desire from a doll stuffed with heroin to one with a pouch of diamonds.
The thriller unfolds in a basement apartment in Manhattan. What’s at stake for a petty gain of thieves are the diamonds in a doll, presumably somewhere in Sam and Susan Hendrix’s apartment. Unknowingly, Sam came into possession of the doll returning from a business trip – as a favor to a friend. The criminals know that, and the pursuit plot unspools in the Hendrix apartment. The fact that Susan is blind heightens the conceit as she is simultaneously the victim and detective of an unfolding crime.
Desiree Henderson convincingly navigates the role of Susan Hendrix, a smart but vulnerable heroine. Her husband, Sam, is ably captured in an all-too-brief scene by Tyler Wiseman. Sam’s absence for work is essential for the caper to unfold. When Sam exits, Susan alone must deal with the intruders who arrive separately and in different guises.
Carlino, a sleazy defunct cop played by DART stalwart Phil Brown, appears as a friendly ally. Harry Roat, a slick frontman, played with delicious intensity by Ethan Vlchek, masterminds the robbery. Mike Tallman, Sam’s mysterious friend from Marine service during World War II, arrives unexpectedly with a convincing tale of brotherhood. As portrayed by Kieran Peck, Mike is charming and helpful. A complex duet emerges between Susan and Mike with layers of meaning. Tellingly conveyed by Henderson and Peck, their extended scenes add emotional depth to the mystery at hand.
Gloria, a superficially snippy teenage neighbor, appears and plays an unexpected role in Susan’s ruminations. Smartly portrayed by McKenzie Oury, Gloria becomes a pivotal character in the puzzle.
The final scene is not only well prepared but exhilarating. Other directors and theater companies have warned of difficulties that range from performing in near darkness to making threat levels believable. None of that will be given away here except to say: DART has polished that stone and added a solid production to the American canon of crime drama.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
