Wait Until Dark At The Shaw Festival
Frederick Knott’s 1966 Broadway hit Wait Until Dark is something of an American classic and it is a truth universally acknowledged that every classic is in desperate need of getting a new adaptation.
So it is that the Shaw Festival is presenting Jeffrey Hatcher’s 2013 revision of the original Wait Until Dark. Why? Oh, why not?
The original Wait Until Dark was and still is a sturdy little vehicle that was stripped to the bare essentials the genre demands, which is probably what has made it such a success in summer stock and amateur revivals over the years.
Matt Shakman, director of that 2013 version, decided that the setting for Wait Until Dark needed to be transposed from Greenwich Village in the 1960s to Greenwich Village in the 1940s.
Hatcher took that ball and ran with it, adding a fair bit of backstory to the plot, including the PTSD of soldiers returning from the war, the insecurities of a wife wondering if her husband is having an affair, and an upstairs neighbour who is a dipsomaniac prostitute.
As opposed as I am to needless adaptations (could you tell?) I am pleased to report that Hatcher’s “improvements” work remarkably well and this Wait Until Dark remains a crackling piece of theatre that generates the thrills and chills the genre demands.
For those who have managed to avoid seeing previous iterations of Wait Until Dark on stage or film, I should note that the plot revolves around a murderous gang of thugs trying to retrieve a musical doll stuffed with something extremely valuable.
The doll, for plot reasons that were more plausible in Knott’s original, has found its way to the basement apartment of Sam and Susy Hendrix.
Susy is blind, having lost her sight in an accident three years earlier. Like the original, Hatcher’s version makes ingenious use of the theatrical possibilities of a blind but plucky heroine confronting evil criminals.
The bad guys, all of whom seem to have gone to drama school, create a cast of colourful characters to camouflage their intentions. Will they be successful in pulling off this flim-flam on a seemingly hapless blind woman? Answering that question is the great fun of Wait Until Dark.
It helps immensely that the Shaw production, under the assured guidance of director Sanjay Talwar fairly crackles with excitement. An opening sequence in which brief tableaux vivantes are illuminated in flashes of blinding light, accompanied by John Gzowski’s pounding and rather scary score works beautifully to set the tone. Talwar doesn’t let the tension slacken as he maintains a brisk pace throughout.
Talwar has distinguished himself as an actor at both Shaw and the Stratford Festival. It’s fascinating to see him emerge as a supremely confident director.
The set by Lorenzo Savoini is quite beautiful in its own seedy way. His use of the windows that provide a view of the street is especially clever. Of course three Greenwich Village apartments could fit onto the stage of the Festival Theatre, but never mind. It’s the magic of theatre.
The costumes by Ming Wong conjure the era nicely and the lighting by Louise Guinand does a terrific job of leveling the playing field when the beleaguered Susy turns out the lights, which makes Wait Until Dark such an apt title.
Without great acting the absurdities of the thriller genre have a way of revealing themselves and Talwar is blessed with a kick-ass cast.
Sochi Fried is splendid as Susy as her vulnerability gradually gives way to steely resolve. The Festival called on the coaching help of Jodey Porter, who suffered a loss of sight similar to Susy’s. Fried learned her lessons well and the verisimilitude she brings to the role is remarkable.
The gang of crooks is likewise exemplary. Kristopher Bowman, masquerading as a friend of Susy’s husband, does a nicely calibrated job of developing sympathy for his victim. Martin Happer is a most convincing phoney New York cop.
Best of all is Bruce Horak as Rote, the vicious psychopath who is the mastermind of this criminal enterprise. Rote appears in a number of guises, which can tempt an actor into overacting. Horak plays it close to the vest and is all the more terrifying for his restraint.
Horak is a remarkable performer. A victim of retinoblastoma, he is legally blind, having just ten percent vision in one eye. That has not prevented him from having a distinguished career as an actor, playwright, and visual artist with a specialty in portraiture.
However, his casting in Wait Until Dark is no mere stunt. He is brilliant in the role and the fact of his near blindness is beside the point. I doubt many people in the audience were aware of his disability.
I must also mention Eponine Lee as Gloria, Susy’s bratty upstairs neighbour who runs errands and plays a crucial role in the plot. Gloria is typically the weak link in the casting of Wait Until Dark. The role often goes to a kid whose acting skills are minimal. The diminutive Lee, however, is a crackerjack actress who deftly captures Gloria’s pubescent contradictions. It’s a truly wonderful performance.
Wait Until Dark continues at the Festival Theatre through October 5, 2025. For more information and to purchase tickets visit the Shaw Festival website.
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