Editing Wait Until Dark

{{short description|1966 play by Frederick Knott}}
{{About|the 1966 play|the 1967 film|Wait Until Dark (film)}}

{{more citations needed|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox play
| name       = Wait Until Dark
| image      = Wait-Until-Dark-1966-Playbill.jpg
| alt        = 
| caption    = ''[[Playbill]]'' for the Broadway premiere <br>starring [[Lee Remick]] (1966)
| writer     = [[Frederick Knott]]
| chorus     = 
| characters = 
| mute       = 
| setting    = A basement apartment in [[Greenwich Village]].
| premiere   = {{Start date|1966|02|02}}
| place      = [[Ethel Barrymore Theatre]], New York City
| orig_lang  = English
| series     = 
| subject    = 
| genre      = Thriller
| web        = 
}}
'''''Wait Until Dark''''' is a play by [[Frederick Knott]], first performed on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in 1966 and often revived since then. A [[Wait Until Dark (film)|film adaptation]] was released in 1967, and the play was published in the same year.<ref>{{cite book |last=Knott |first=Frederick |title=Wait Until Dark |date=1967 |publisher=Dramatists Play Service |oclc=1107138 }}</ref>

==Synopsis==
Susy Hendrix is a blind [[Greenwich Village]] housewife who becomes the target of three con-men searching for the [[heroin]] hidden in a doll, which her husband Sam unwittingly transported from Canada as a favor to a woman who has since been murdered. "Roat" leads his companions into thinking that they are going to be rich and will get the heroin soon enough, but in the end he murders all of his partners after they outlive their usefulness.

The trio tries to convince Susy that her husband will be suspected of murdering the woman, and the only way to protect him is to give them the doll, which connects him to her. Little do the men know that Gloria, a little girl in the upstairs apartment, has stolen the doll after finding out it was not a gift for her.

One of the men poses as Sergeant Carlino, a strange police detective, while another poses as Mike, an old friend of her husband dropping by for a visit. Susy relies on "Mike", and he eventually begins to feel sympathy for her.

"Roat" poses as both the elderly Mr. Roat and his "son", Roat Junior. Roat Senior ransacks Susy's room and steals a wedding photo from the bedroom. He threatens Susy's and her husband's well-being, so she calls the police.  Her call is intercepted by "Mike", and Susy is visited by "Sergeant Carlino".

Gloria returns and admits her theft of the doll, and Susy hides it. Susy contacts "Mike" to ask for help now that the doll is found. Gloria has been watching the nearby phone booth used by the con-men, and she alerts Susy that all three of the men she has been dealing with are tricking her. Susy sends Gloria to meet her husband on his way home from work, and begins planning to handle the intruders.

Roat kills both of his partners after the men discover Susy has the doll in the apartment. He spills gas around the apartment to destroy any evidence.

Susy turns off all the lights so that "Roat" cannot see her. "Roat" uses matches to see until Susy douses him with the gasoline. He uses the refrigerator light to see, threatens Susy, and tries to kill her. She ultimately defeats "Roat".

Sam bursts in with the police and finds that Susy has already dealt with Roat.  He sees that Mike is also dead. Gloria yells at the police when they appear too patronizing to Susy and defends Susy's ability to take care of herself. After the police leave, Susy and Sam embrace.

==Productions==
===Original===
Produced by [[Fred Coe]] and directed by [[Arthur Penn]], the Broadway premiere of ''Wait Until Dark'' opened on February 2, 1966, at the [[Ethel Barrymore Theatre]]. Within the next 11 months, it transferred to the [[Shubert Theatre (Broadway)|Shubert]], the [[George Abbott Theatre|George Abbott]] and the [[Music Box Theatre]], running for 373 performances.<ref name="IBDb">{{cite web |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/wait-until-dark-3128 |title=Wait Until Dark |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=January 20, 2018}}</ref>

* [[Lee Remick]] as Susy Hendrix<ref name="IBDb"/>
* [[Robert Duvall]] as Harry Roat Jr.<ref name="IBDb"/>
* [[Mitchell Ryan]] as Mike Talman<ref name="IBDb"/>
* [[Val Bisoglio]] as Sgt. Carlino<ref name="IBDb"/>
* James Congdon as Sam Hendrix<ref name="IBDb"/>
* Julie Herrod as Gloria<ref name="IBDb"/>

Remick was nominated for the [[Tony Award]] for Best Actress in a Play.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/history/pastwinners/index.html | title=Search Past Winners |website=Tony Awards | publisher=Tony Award Productions |access-date=January 20, 2018}}</ref>

The [[West End theatre|West End]] production, with [[Honor Blackman]] and [[Peter Sallis]], at the [[Novello Theatre|Strand Theatre]], was also successful, running for nearly two years, during which time [[Barbara Murray]] and [[Lana Morris]] took over from Blackman in the lead.

===Revivals===
The play was produced by the [[Brunton Theatre|Brunton Theatre Company]], [[Musselburgh]], under the direction of Sandy Neilson during its first season in 1979.

After 11 previews, a Broadway revival directed by [[Leonard Foglia]] opened on April 5, 1998, at the [[Brooks Atkinson Theatre]], where it ran for 97 performances. The cast included [[Marisa Tomei]], [[Quentin Tarantino]] and [[Stephen Lang (actor)|Stephen Lang]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2003/10/tarantino200310 |title=The Return of Quentin Tarantino |first=Peter |last=Biskind |magazine=Vanity Fair |date=October 14, 2003 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204221046/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2003/10/tarantino200310 |archive-date=December 4, 2021 |access-date=April 26, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://playbill.com/article/tarantino-tomei-wait-until-dark-opens-on-bway-apr-5-com-74474 |title=Tarantino-Tomei Wait Until Dark Opens on B'way Apr. 5 |first=David |last=Lefkowitz |website=Playbill |date=April 5, 1998 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201035038/https://playbill.com/article/tarantino-tomei-wait-until-dark-opens-on-bway-apr-5-com-74474 |archive-date=December 1, 2022 |access-date=April 26, 2024}}</ref>

A 2003 London revival, followed by a UK tour, featured [[Susie Amy]], [[Derren Nesbitt]] and [[Michael Melia]]. The setting was changed to Notting Hill.

A production of the play took place at the [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe]] in 2010. It was performed at the [[Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh]] by students of Oxford University.

On October 16, 2013, a revised version by [[Jeffrey Hatcher]] opened at the [[Geffen Playhouse]] in Los Angeles, featuring [[Allison Pill]], Adam Stein, and [[Mather Zickel]].<ref name= "LA">{{cite magazine |last=Bahr |first=Lyndsey |url= https://ew.com/article/2013/10/18/wait-until-dark-ew-review/ |title='Wait Until Dark': EW review |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=October 18, 2013 |access-date=September 19, 2018}}</ref> The story was backdated to 1944, and Sam and Mike are supposedly Marine buddies who served together in Italy.

==Adaptations==
[[File:WaitUntilDark.JPG|thumb|upright|Film poster]]
{{main article|Wait Until Dark (film)}}
[[Warner Bros.-Seven Arts]] purchased the film rights in 1966 soon after the play's Broadway premiere. The film, directed by [[Terence Young (director)|Terence Young]] with a screenplay by Robert Carrington and Jane Howard-Carrington and a score by [[Henry Mancini]], premiered on October 26, 1967. It starred [[Audrey Hepburn]], [[Alan Arkin]], [[Richard Crenna]], [[Efrem Zimbalist Jr.]], [[Jack Weston]], and Julie Herrod, and it was produced by Hepburn's then-husband [[Mel Ferrer]].

In an effort to duplicate the suspense on screen, movie theaters dimmed their lights to their legal limits, then turned off one by one until each light on-screen was shattered, resulting in the theater being plunged into complete darkness.

Hepburn was nominated for both the [[Academy Award]] and [[Golden Globe]] for Best Actress, and Zimbalist was nominated for a Golden Globe in the supporting category.

The film ranked tenth on Bravo's ''[[The 100 Scariest Movie Moments]]'' for its climactic scene, and it was ranked 55th on the list of [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills|American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Thrills]].

A 1982 TV movie starred [[Katharine Ross]] and [[Stacy Keach]].

The movie was adapted into a 1986 [[Kannada]]-language movie ''[[27 Mavalli Circle]]''.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Wait Until Dark}}
*{{IBDB show | 9129 | Wait Until Dark }}
*[http://www.waituntildarkfringe.com Official website for the 2010 Edinburgh Festival production of ''Wait Until Dark'']

[[Category:1966 plays]]
[[Category:Broadway plays]]
[[Category:American plays adapted into films]]
[[Category:Plays set in New York City]]
[[Category:Plays and musicals about disability]]
[[Category:Thriller plays]]