By Marilyn Jozwik
As one theater-goer said at the sudden ending of Sunset’s “Wait Until Dark”: “That was intense.”
Indeed, those final moments of this taut thriller, by Frederick Knott and adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, are intense.
The show simmers nicely at a slow burn under the direction of Dustin Martin (Nicholas Callan Haubner is assistant director), until the final moments bring the story to a five-alarm fire, keeping the audience at the edge of their seats throughout.
The show opens in Greenwich Village, New York, in 1944. Two baddies, an ex-cop gone bad named Carlino (Ralph Frattura) and a deranged conman Roat (Josh Scheibe), are trying to track down a doll containing a hidden treasure that would provide quite the payday for them. Their search brings them to the Greenwich Village apartment of a young, newly married couple—Sam, a photographer (Karol Nowak), and his blind wife, Susan (Maura Atwood). Sam and Susan have been lured away to give the pair an opportunity to check out the place.
Susan has a helper, Gloria (Eva Dahlberg), a neighbor girl from a dysfunctional household who takes delight in playing tricks on the sightless Susan, like moving furniture around in Susan’s apartment. After Carlino and Roat case her apartment, Susan is visited by a war buddy of her husband’s, Mike (Chris Celestin), who gains Susan’s trust while her husband is gone on an assignment and a strangled woman is found in the neighborhood.
I loved the opening scene, especially Scheibe’s Roat, whose long pauses and measured cadence are perfect contrasts to Carlino’s excitable demeanor. Scheibe sits in the couple’s apartment, slowly lighting a cigarette, looking cool and creepy, like a Hannibal Lecter wannabe, while he describes his nefarious plans. This sinister scene sets a firm foundation for the evil about to descend on Susan’s ordinary life.
Gloria (Eva Dahlberg) assumes a smug attitude as she annoys her neighbor Susan (Maura Atwood) in a scene from Sunset Playhouse’s “Wait Until Dark.”
Atwood’s Susan is engaging from the start. Her strident Brooklyn accent adds humor to many of her lines, especially her conversations with the mischievous Gloria, nicely done by Dahlberg. Atwood plays Susan with a sensible, can-do attitude as she relies on the acuity of her other senses to navigate the terror-filled situations she finds herself in.
Mike (Chris Celestin) makes a phone call in Susan’s apartment while Susan (Maura Atwood) and Gloria (Eva Dahlberg) look on.
Frattura’s Carlino is sort of a caricature of a Brooklyn cop-cum-gangster, which mostly serves his character well. As Sam’s Army buddy, Mike, Celestin pairs well with Atwood, his character displaying an ease and charm that reassures the on-edge Susan.
Sunset chose to do the blackout scenes in virtually total darkness, relying on the actors’ dialogue and utterings to describe the action. I’ve seen the play done with a darkened set before, but not so dark as to not see what the characters were doing. With the total blackout, Sunset’s characters had to work especially hard to convey the action.
Set designer Matt Carr did a good job of creating a set that allows the audience to see all the important elements needed to understand the plot and create a manageable playground for the performers. Marty Wallner’s lighting design is up to the challenge of a play that relies heavily on exact positioning and intensity of light to set its mood and enhance its story.
If You Go
Who: Sunset Playhouse
What: “Wait Until Dark”
When: Through Nov. 7
Where: 800 Elm Grove Road
Info/Tickets: 262-782-4430, SunsetPlayhouse.com