Cast

Synopsis

A drug-filled doll has disappeared from a London flat and three petty crooks try to find it. They plot to compel the owners to give away its whereabouts. The wife is blind; the crooks tell her a frightening story but she becomes suspicious. In a terrifying climax she makes use of the fact that in the dark the blind have an actual advantage over those who can normally see.

Directors Notes

I’ve never directed a thriller before so I’m highly dependent on a good cast and a first rate stage manager. Lucky me, I’ve got both. Wait Until Dark is a fascinating drama which had great success in the 1960s. Unlike many plays written at the time, it really cannot be updated – and why not? Because any teenage girl of today and any scurrilous criminal would have a mobile phone and the job is sorted – a one act play at the very most, and possibly not even that. So look at this play as an historical record of how things were in the 60s; four pence in the slot at the call box and ‘Press Button A’ before dialling, a fridge that hums as it cools, a professional photographer who does his printing in the basement apartment where he and his wife (yes, not his partner) live, men wear hats as a matter of course – I could go on. But it takes a man of my advanced years to remember and interpret the details. The process has been fascinating, the characters well written, the plot neat and the heroine is blind – I think you might begin to understand what that (not being able to see) means as you watch this fascinating play. Well worth a visit. I’m enjoying the rehearsals hugely. I hope you will enjoy the suspense as much as I do.