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| Cast | |
| Mike | Andy Kelly |
| Croker | Clive Madel |
| Roat | Matt Clowry |
| Susy Henderson | Fiona McGahren |
| Sam Henderson | Paul Friett |
| Gloria | Hannah Jacobs |
| Policeman | Tony Donnelly |
| Crew | |
| Stage Manager | Wendy Marsh |
| Assistant Stage Managers | Yvonne Golding, Tony Donnelly |
| Set Design | Paul Lay |
| Set Construction | John Vinnels, Ron Andrews |
| Lighting Design and Rigging | Jerry McKeon, Christine McKeon |
| Lighting Operation | Stephanie David |
| Sound | Rebecca Mason |
Thanks to Richard Banks, Mike Lay and Welling Hoover Centre, Lion Road
Preview
Tension is building as curtain rises on thriller
Petty crooks, a blind woman and one doll will take centre stage at the Edward Alderton Theatre, Bexleyheath. The venue's first production for 2008, is the psychological thriller Wait Until Dark by Frederick Knott.
Director Paul Lay said: "It is about a blind woman called Susy, who is the central character. Her husband has been conned into bringing a doll back from Amsterdam containing heroin. Set within the basement studio flat of the couple, the tension is increased throughout the play. The main conman is psychopathic and his two accomplices are small time petty crooks."
As a long-standing member of the theatre, Paul has been yearning to direct one of Frederick Knott's plays for quite some time. He said: "I played the husband 16 years ago at another local theatre and since then had it in mind. It was very well received. I always liked how the writer manages to build up such tension. Fiona McGahren has the challenging role of Susy, it is harder than you think to play a blind woman. Matt Clowry is the psychopathic conman and has to display many personas. The whole cast is very talented."
Wait Until Dark is showing at the Edward Alderton Theatre, Bexleyheath from February 2 to February 9. Performances are at 8pm, and tickets are £6.50. Call 020 8301 5584 or go to the website www.edwardalderton.org. There is no performance on Sunday, February 3.
Vanessa Emmanuel
Bexley Extra | 1 February
2008
Reviews
Wait Until Dark left me in need of a torch
Last week’s production of Wait Until Dark at the Edward Alderton Theatre, Bexleyheath, was a pedestrian and, at times, inconsistent production that failed to leave the audience on the edge of their seat, writes Steve Spencer.
Frederick Knott’s play from the mid 1960s has three villains searching for a musical doll containing a large amount of heroin imported unwittingly from Amsterdam by a young London couple, Susy and Sam Henderson. She, now blind following a car crash, and her husband, a successful photographer, become the focus of attention by a trio of confidence tricksters which grows more menacing and brutal as the play unfolds.
Director Paul Lay doesn’t quite tease out the increasing sense of menace, although there are brave attempts to steep the audience in suspense and drama through effective lighting and music. There are, however, too many occasions when the audience is left confused - throwaway gestures, clumsy use of props, unclear diction. (I missed how blind Susy knew that one of the tricksters was wiping fingerprints away. I thought dusting was a quiet activity!). Irony and humour were in rather short supply too.
To be fair, the cast had a lot to contend with - a ponderous script with complex stage directions - and none more so than Fiona McGahren (Susy Henderson) who used the whole well-designed stage in which to effectively ‘unravel the crime’ as the play unfolded. The introduction of the villains in the opening scene saw rather stilted performances, although Andy Kelly (Mike) seemed most at ease in the role. But it was a long time before we felt convinced by the psychopathic behaviour of Matt Clowry (Roat) or the brutality of Clive Madel (Croker). Other roles were played by Hannah Jacobs as Gloria, the young girl upstairs who becomes Susy’s ally and at times her eyes; Paul Friett as Sam Henderson; and Tony Donnelly as the policeman.
Inevitably, blindness is no disadvantage in the dark – indeed it is the very quality which ultimately empowers Susy, as the upper hand shifts from her to Roat, her psychopathic nemesis, and back again. A pity then, that this thriller left me rather in the dark.
Steve Spencer
Kentish Times | 14 February 2008
Tension rises as the lights fade
EAT's production of Wait Until Dark was a feast for the senses as three desperate criminals pit their wits against a lone, blind woman in an attempt to retrieve a missing doll containing drugs hidden somewhere in her flat.
As the only character truly at home in the dark, Fiona McGahren held the play together with a performance combining vulnerability, trust and resourcefulness in the face of adversity. As the lights fade so the tension rises with the final scene played out in almost total darkness as Susy confronts her pursuers, this time on equal terms.
In the role of two small-time conmen, Andy Kelly and Clive Madel were suitably seedy, but some of their exchanges lacked any real sense of energy. While their psychopathic boss, Matt Clowry, displayed a sense of detached menace. Overall, the pace of the play was variable with a rather slow start, picking up in the second half and more could have been made of the finale, which ended rather abruptly. If the lighting design by Jerry McKeon stole the show, then the darkness and drama were never too far behind.
Nick Marsden
Bexley Extra | 15 February 2008
