Paul T Davies reviews Wait Until Dark by Frederick Knott now playing at the Frinton Summer Theatre.

Wait Until Dark Frinton Summer Theatre

17 July 2019

3 Stars

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Best known for the 1967 film version starring Audrey Hepburn, Frederick Knott’s thriller has been a staple of the theatre scene since its first appearance. The plot is complex and demands attention, as Sam Henderson, a photographer, has returned from a trip to Amsterdam with a doll he has innocently agreed to pass on to the guardian of a child at Great Ormond Street Hospital. In reality, the doll is stuffed full of heroin, and three ruthless criminals have followed Sam back to his Notting Hill flat to retrieve it. Standing in their way is Susy, Sam’s blind wife,  from whom, by posing as various police officers and “friends”, the men try to get the doll back. Susy does not know that her upstairs neighbour and helper, 12-year-old Gloria, has taken the doll.

Despite some huge holes in the plot, the play is a good example of the well structured, well-made play. Attention in the first act must be paid, not just plot-wise, but also the layout of the flat and the devices planted that then come into play as the resourceful Susy begins to turn the tables on the criminals- you literally do have to wait until dark to get the payoff!  In the lead role, Eleanor Jackson captured perfectly her vulnerability, but also her strength, this woman can be a bad ass when pushed! Patrick Bailey is a malevolent Roat, matched by James Marchant and Alan Francis completing the sinister gangsters, and Alicia Arkless is effectively youthful as Gloria, at times annoying and petulant, but turning out to be a good ally to Susy.

The play depends a lot on the building up of pace, and on the night I saw the show, there were, sadly, some unfortunate pauses and poor timing that threw off the climax of the play a little. If the company can tighten the last twenty minutes or so, the production would be even stronger. As it was, the audience sat in rapt attention and were thoroughly engaged, and designer Sorcha Corcoran has come up with another brilliant set, capturing perfectly the setting for this cat and mouse game.

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