The theater department gracefully combined deception, suspense, and a dash of comedy with their fall production of  Wait Until Dark.

Written by Frederick Knott, Wait Until Dark focuses on Susy Hendrix, a blind newlywed living with her husband, Sam, in Greenwich Village in New York City. When Sam accidentally carries a doll filled with heroin across Canadian borders, three con men show up in the village to steal it back. After Sam leaves for a business trip, the men appear at Susy’s doorstep and attempt to exploit her disability to retrieve the doll.

The school production began with an additional One Act called Sorry Wrong Number. Senior Peyton Mogley starred as the little old lady who just wanted to reach her husband at work. However, by some malfunction of the telephone company, Mogley ends up overhearing the three con men’s plot to kill Susy and retrieve the doll.

Despite Mogley’s fantastic acting abilities to portray a frustrated old woman, the purpose of the act was unclear until the end. For those who did not know the story behind Wait Until Dark, it would have been difficult to make the connection between the two productions. However, Mogley’s portrayal left the audience with some laughs and some shocks overall.

Although the main production started out quite slow, the actors’ overall performance was truly inspiring. Junior Sami Zucker took the role of Susy and was extremely convincing as a blind woman. Her movements and attitude throughout the entire play absorbed the audience as if they were actually experiencing her fear. Senior Jake Blonstein played Roat, the mastermind behind the scheme to retrieve the doll. Blonstein’s ability to transform himself into a heartless criminal was quite impressive. The creepy laugh and sarcastic comments certainly enhanced his terrifying character.

In addition to the impressive acting, the special effects of the production definitely added to the thriller aspect of the play. The light adjustments intensified the struggle in the final scene between Susy and Roat. Leaving the theater in complete darkness, the audience is left to guess what is happening while the two characters fight onstage. The tech crew’s ability to alter the lights helped the audience feel more involved with the characters as it amplified the terror of the scene.

Despite all of the great qualities of the production, the overall movement of the play was dawdling. The entire first act focused on the background and build up for the main scene. It would have been nice to see more thriller aspects in the first few scenes to help the tempo overall. Even though there is definite room for improvement, the cast and crew did an impressionable job on their first thriller in several years.