Showing @ theSpaces -28th Aug 20:40 1h 20m
The aptly named Blindspot Productions bring Frederick Knott’s 1966 mystery thriller play, Wait Until Dark to the Fringe this year. Set in the 1960s,the play presents a powerful tale of greed, deceit and fear that is both thought provoking and disturbing.
Knott’s final play follows recently blinded housewife, Susy, (Charlotte Mulliner) when she’s left alone at home for the day by her husband, Sam, (Jack Peters). But when Susy falls victim to a gang of ruthless criminals intent on finding a mysterious doll, so begins a dangerous game of deception that pushes Susy to her physical and emotional limit.
Directed by Griff Rees, who also directed Alan Ayckbourn’s Round and Round the Garden at the Fringe in 2009, Wait Until Dark is a tense and refreshing thriller that reveals what a human being will do in order to survive. While not an entirely new concept, it’s Knott’s decision to include a character who is still coming to terms with a new disability that makes this play so unsettling. Rife with themes of exploitation and sensory deprivation, the real message behind Wait Until Dark lies in our belief in Susy’s apparent vulnerability, as viewing a blind character on stage will always evoke feelings of pity in the most open minded members of the audience. Performed by a troupe of students from Oxford University, Rees’ production is a fitting tribute to Knott’s original play that presents some promising talent, both on and off stage. But while the play is well performed, the only problem with this particular production lies in its staging, as it was tucked into a small space in the Surgeons Hall, which led to cramped conditions backstage, and meant that the actors could often be heard moving off stage which ultimately betrayed the play’s shadowy and threatening atmosphere. But while the staging could have been bigger, this is a welcome change to the Fringe line up that proves that Knott’s original script is just as terrifying as it was 40 years ago.
Comments