Wait Until Dark
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (August 2011) |
Wait Until Dark is a play by Frederick Knott, first performed in 1966.
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Synopsis [edit]
Susy Hendrix is a blind Greenwich Village housewife who becomes the target of three con-men searching for the heroin hidden in a doll, which her husband Sam innocently transported from Canada as a favor to a woman who has since been murdered. "Roat" leads his companions into thinking that they are going to be rich and will get the heroin soon enough, but in the end he murders all of his partners after they outlive their usefulness.
The trio try to convince Susy that her husband has been accused of drug smuggling, and the only way to protect him is to give them the doll. Little do the men know that Susy gave the doll to Gloria, a little girl in the upstairs apartment.
One of the men plays a man named Sergeant Carlino, a strange police sergeant/detective, while another plays Mike, a supposed old friend of her husband dropping by for a visit. Susy relies on "Mike", and he eventually begins to feel sympathetic for her.
"Roat" plays both Mr. Roat and his "son" Roat Junior. Roat Junior ransacks her room and steals from her. He threatens Susy and her husband's well being, so she calls the police, or thinks she is getting the police. Of course, the con-men knew this would happen and send over "Sergeant Carlino".
Susy is incredibly clever, and with the help of Gloria, she realizes the true identity of the men and plans to defeat them.
The stage lights are turned off for the final scene, when Susy turns off all the lights so that "Roat" cannot see her. "Roat" threatens Susy and tries to kill her. She ultimately kills "Roat", while Gloria goes to the police.
At the end of the play, Sam bursts in with the police to find that she has already taken care of Roat, and he sees Mike was also killed in her apartment. The police go to help Susy, but Gloria yells at them, saying she can do it on her own, and helps Susy get up. The final image of the play is Susy and Sam embracing by the stairs.
Performances [edit]
After seven previews, the Broadway production, directed by Arthur Penn, opened on February 2, 1966, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Within the next eleven months, it transferred to the Shubert, the George Abbott and the Music Box Theatres before it ended its run of 374 performances. The cast included Lee Remick, Robert Duvall and Mitchell Ryan. Remick was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
The London West End production with Honor Blackman was far more successful, running for nearly two years.
After 11 previews, a Broadway revival directed by Leonard Foglia opened on April 5, 1998, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, where it ran for 97 performances. The cast included Marisa Tomei, Quentin Tarantino and Stephen Lang.
A 2003 London revival, followed by a UK tour, featured Susie Amy, Derren Nesbitt and Michael Melia. The setting was changed to Notting Hill.
A production of the play took place at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2010. It was performed at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh by students of Oxford University.
Film adaptation [edit]
Warner Bros.-Seven Arts purchased the film rights in 1966 soon after the play's Broadway premiere. The film, directed by Terence Young with a screenplay by Robert Carrington and Jane Howard-Carrington and a score by Henry Mancini, was premiered on October 26, 1967. It starred Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and Jack Weston and was produced by Hepburn's then-husband Mel Ferrer.
In an effort to duplicate the suspense on screen, movie theaters dimmed their lights to their legal limits, then turned off one by one until each light on-screen was shattered, resulting in the theater being plunged into complete darkness.
Hepburn was nominated for both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Actress, and Zimbalist was nominated for a Golden Globe in the supporting category.
The film ranked tenth on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments for its climactic scene.
A 1982 HBO television movie starred Katharine Ross and Stacy Keach.
