La Mesa’s Lamplighters Theatre is now performing “Wait Until Dark” through Feb. 2. This play is based off Frederick Knott’s 1967 movie, with Jeffrey Hatch adapting the original, giving it a new setting set in 1944 Greenwich Village. Considered one of American theatre’s greatest suspense plays, the story follows Susan, a woman who recently lost her vision, and is in peril by con men searching for a mysterious doll while she is trapped alone in her apartment.
Artistic Director Pamela Stompoly said Lamplighters does many types of plays, from comedy, musicals, dramas, but the suspenseful “Wait Until Dark” is one of her favorite productions.
“It is very film noir,” she said. “Because we set in 1944, my con¬cept designer asked if we could do the whole play in greyscale. There is a lack of color on the stage except for the blind girl. The story is about a man and woman living in New York basement apartment, and she is newly blind because of a car accident. When her husband was taking a train ride home, a wom¬an dropped a doll in his valise.”
And there is something inside of the doll.
“Three bad guys, Sergeant Carlino, Mike, the fake military friend, and Rote, who plays three characters is the ultimate bad guy in the show. They are all trying to find the doll. The wife has no idea that there is a doll in the house, and that there is something special about this doll. She decides the only way to outsmart the men because she cannot fight them, is to take out all the lights in the apartment, leveling the playing field. She is stronger without the lights because they do not know how to function in the dark.”
Stompoly said she fights for her survival while waiting for her husband to come home.
Stompoly said this play is about timing, setting the mood, creating tension.
“It is a thriller in the truest form of the word,” she said. “People sit on the edge of their seats. People will be yelling, and in horror. It is a great show. We have a very strong cast. Shaelyn Sailors (Susan), playing the lead is extremely strong and convincing as a blind woman. Her husband is Jim Miller (Sam). Jeffrey Jones plays Swing. Steve Jensen (Carlino) has a strong feeling on how to play 1944. Tanner Vidos (Mike), who is a very good actor locally, you feel sorry for him even when you find out he is a bad guy. Bobby Imperato (Roat) is so good that you never have any empathy for him at all. No one likes him, cares for him, cheers for him, until the curtain call at the end of the show. Ashlyn Graves (Gloria) does an excellent job as a savior to Susan while her husband is away”
Stompoly said the extensive measure that they went through to create the film noir effect, the production value is high, lighting is superb, the set is all greyscale, creating a small basement apartment on stage.
“It all has a 1940s feel,” she said. “Everything is intermingled. There are surprises, gasps, and shocks. We have had standing ovations every day, which is surprisingly wonderful to have.”
Stompoly said the play runs a little under two hours with an intermission.
“It is a good romp, it’s a good play, and it is a lot of fun,” she said. “I am so proud of my cast and my director Kara Tuckfield, who is with us her first time as a director, and she has done an amazing job. Everybody who has participated has given over 100% on this show.”
