A Utah Theater Review by Jennifer Mustoe
Last night, a friend of mine and I went to see the Covey Center for the Arts’ latest production, Wait Until Dark. As I walked into the lovely theater, it was filled with people eating donuts. I asked the woman serving the donuts if they were for opening night. She told me that Provo has a First Fridays Downtown Gallery Stroll. The Covey Center has a pretty decent art gallery, and they participate in this fun activity, which apparently includes free donuts. Note to readers: try to come to shows that play on the first Friday of the month if you want a free donut. (You may also want to check these activities out simply because they’re fun, even if there isn’t a play showing at the time. A little shout out for the arts….)
I have seen the film version of Wait Until Dark with Audrey Hepburn and loved it. I was pleased to see a movie poster of Breakfast at Tiffany’s on the wall of the basement apartment where the play takes place. Nice touch.
The play takes place all in one room, a basement apartment in Greenwich Village. Before the play starts, we hear traffic sounds and people walking in front of the windows which are at the back of the set. Though the theater is expansive, as is the stage, the set is built in such a way that we feel we are really in a cozy, little apartment – a space that is even smaller when we begin to identify with the main character, Susy Hendrix, played by Aubrey Reynolds, who lives in darkness. Susy is blind, and her world is smaller than those of sighted people. Hendrix does a fabulous job convincing us that she doesn’t feel sorry for herself, but isn’t always happy with her new limitation. In fact, Reynold’s does such a good job I didn’t once miss Audrey Hepburn, and that says a lot coming from me.
The first act is a bit slow. I don’t think there was anything technically wrong with the show or how it played out. It’s just a little slow. We are introduced to Susy and her husband, Sam, played winningly by Kristopher Paries. I liked Paries’ interpretation of Sam better than the movie, as I always felt like the film’s Sam (played by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.) was kind of pushy and mean. Paries has a jocular, supportive way about him. Both my friend and I decided he was one of our favorites.
We also meet Mike Talman, played by Cameron Bench. I’m already a big fan of Cameron Bench, having seen him in several Grassroots Shakespeare Company productions last summer. Mike Talman, along with Sergeant Carlino, played by Eric Harper, are con men working for Harry Roat, played by Wes Tolman. These three men are trying to get a doll filled with heroin back from Susy’s husband, who was a decoy in bringing the doll back from Canada. All three men are brilliant. Their timing is awesome. I loved Bench’s Talman, who seems the most human of the three. Carlino, too, is a guy who’s recently gotten out of jail and though he probably doesn’t want to go straight, doesn’t want to be a part of what ends up being murder. Check out the scene where Harper eats the sandwich. It is great! I didn’t like Roat at all, so kudos Wes Tolman. He did such a good job, I think I would be afraid to see him in a dark alley just from his performance alone.
Sarah Osmond plays Gloria, and she was so natural, she was my favorite. For such a young girl, she was very comfortable onstage, and was the perfect combination of liar and thief, while also being a helpful and caring little girl who needs affection and mothering.
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Once Scene One is over, the show speeds along, building in intensity, anticipation and terror. Several times as Susy realizes that she is not only being conned but also in danger, she also starts tripping over things left in the way – and each time it looks very natural and not like she is a sighted person who sees the suitcase or chair and trips anyway. Reynold’s portrayals of Susy’s meltdowns are heart-rending. I’m not one who usually feels like getting onstage when I am an audience member, but I had an almost compulsive need to get up and pick up those darn suitcases, whisk Susy away, and use my cell phone to call the real police, and not the con men police in the play. Since the show takes place in the 60s, cell phones aren’t invented yet and it is still possible to rip the phone cord out of the wall and truly cut off a blind person’s contact with the world and safety.
The costumes are nice, though they weren’t strictly vintage 60s. Parking is plentiful in the parking lot outside the theater, but if you have Will Call tickets, you may want to get there a little early. Those lines can get long.
The biggest problem I had was the ending. Without giving too much away, it takes place in the dark and there is death involved. I know next to nothing about lighting, but talked to a few theater folk who know more than I do and they said that there is a way to show darkness onstage but still be able to see by using blue lights. During Wait Until Dark’s denouement, we need to see what is happening and we can’t. In the movie, obviously, we have tight camera shots and can move right onto Hepburn’s terrified face. This kind of close up is impossible to show onstage. As it is, the chaos and fear of the final face off between the bad guy and Susy is completely lost, which is a shame.
However, in spite of this, Wait Until Dark is an exciting, interesting, and well-done show and I highly recommend it.
Wait Until Dark
The Covey Center for the Arts Performance Hall
425 West Center Street, Provo, Utah 84601
801.852.7007
September 7, 8, 13-15, 17, 20-22 7:30 PM
$12
http://www.coveycenter.org
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