PROVO -- Provo Theatre Company's small, intimate theater is the perfect place to stage the thriller "Wait Until Dark." So declares the show's director, David Morgan, in a Provo Theatre Company press release, and he is right.
The ending of this show is well worth the admission price, as the lights go off and the audience waits in total darkness, knowing a killer is stalking his prey just feet in front of them.Things got off to a rocky start on opening night with bumbled lines, but matters smoothed out as the show went on and the final scenes of the show were electrifying.
"Wait Until Dark" centers around Busy Hendrix (Tayva Patch), a blind woman who finds herself accidentally in the middle of a drug deal gone awry. In an attempt to obtain heroin hidden inside a doll in Susy's apartment, three criminals concoct an elaborate story to convince Susy to give them the doll.
They underestimate Susy's resourcefulness; however, one of the thugs is a sadistic killer who won't take no for an answer.
Patch as Susy is likable and communicates her terror and emotional turmoil well. The best part of the play involves her and Harry Roat Jr. (Jeremy Hoop) as the audience watches Susy enact her plan and Roat search for the one weakness in her tactics.
One problem is her movement around the stage, which seemed overly jerky even considering her need to reach for items while feeling her way around the room.
Hoop is chilling as Roat. He wipes away fingerprints and completes other tasks in a practiced and businesslike manner using props in a black bag, emphasizing that crime and murder are nothing new to him.
I have seen this play on stage before as well as viewed the popular film version. In both, a young girl played the part of Gloria, the neighbor girl who serves as Susy's "eyes." In PTC's version, Gloria is played by an older actress (Wendy Gardiner-Hoop) and referred to as a "little high school girl." I may be biased from having seen it before, but the play seems to
work better with a younger girl in the role. Surely an older girl would be able to provide much more help to Susy than merely sitting upstairs and watching a phone booth.
This is not to downplay Gardiner-Hoop's performance, which is quite good. The role simply makes more sense cast with a younger actress.
The set is done well, as they often are at PTC. Light from the "street" filters in through a window onto the floor of Susy's basement apartment, complete with realistic-looking brick walls and old-style fridge, stove, table and chairs. The overall look makes it appear the play is set decades ago (but one wonders why a cordless phone is used).
Parents be warned: This is definitely not a show for children. Murder occurs on stage, and tension is high. But adults will love it.