by Cari Lynn Pace

In a departure from their typical productions, Ross Valley Players delivers the complex and tense thriller Wait Until Dark. Based on the 1966 Broadway cliffhanger which led to the famous Audrey Hepburn movie, this script has been adapted by Jerry Hatcher from Frederick Knott’s original play. Knott wrote spine-tingling plots, including Dial M for Murder, always keeping audiences on the edge of their seats.  

The opening scene, a tidy basement apartment, is dimly lit and slowly exposes a thief (Rob Garcia) casing the joint. He is eventually interrupted by another man (David L. Yen). Yen is cooly menacing in his role and a fine foil for the smarmy character played by Garcia. Are these two at odds or are they cohorts in crime? 

The lengthy opening becomes tense when the apartment resident Susan (amazing Tina Traboulsi) comes home and can sense, though not see, that someone is there. She calls out in vain for Gloria, a role double cast in pre-teens Coco Brown and Diora Silin. The thief simply waits, visible to all but her, in the dark.

The following day, Susan and her husband Sam (Benjamin Vasquez) discuss a murder discovered nearby. When Sam leaves, mischievous Gloria arrives to annoy Susan. Another arrival knocks at the door. Mike (handsome David Abrams) is a lieutenant in uniform who apparently served with Sam. Susan welcomes him and is grateful for his support when a pushy detective arrives to grill her about her husband’s comings and goings and his knowledge of the murder. The drama heightens and the pressure builds as the thieves move in.

RVP’s Executive Producer Steve Price, himself a much-awarded actor, scored a win when he tapped Carl Jordan to direct this demanding play. Wait Until Dark takes place on a dark and sometimes blacked-out stage. Jordan’s challenge was how to make a play shine when the actors are largely unseen? 

Jordan, a multi-award-winning director, succeeded by corralling veteran actors and a skilled production team. The 1940’s set by Tom O’Brien with stark lighting by Frank Sarubi holds the audience breathless and tense, waiting for what might come.  

With twists and turns, this is one show to keep you guessing. It’s an all-star nail-biter you won’t want to miss. 

Wait Until Dark plays at the Barn Theater in the Marin Art & Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, Ross, through December 14.

Click HERE for more info and tickets.

Photos by Robin Jackson

Cari Lynn Pace is a long-time Bay Area theatre critic whose reviews were regularly featured in the Marinscope Community Newspapers.