Written by Frederick Knott
Newly Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher
Fridays and Saturdays
February 17 - March 4, 2023
At 7:30PM
“Are you looking at me?”
Forty-seven years after WAIT UNTIL DARK premiered on Broadway, Jeffrey Hatcher has adapted Frederick Knott’s 1966 original, giving it a new setting. In 1944 Greenwich Village, Susan Hendrix, a blind yet capable woman, is imperiled by a trio of men in her own apartment. As the climax builds, Susan discovers that her blindness just might be the key to her escape, but she and her tormentors must wait until dark to play out this classic thriller’s chilling conclusion.
Credits
Frederick Knott was born on August 28, 1916, in China to an English missionary family. Knott earned a law degree from Cambridge University after attending Oundle School and served in the British Army from 1939 to 1946, achieving the rank of major. Knott only wrote three plays during his lifetime, yet his spine-tingling thrillers ran successfully on Broadway in the 1950s and 1960s, and have been standards in regional theatre and touring productions throughout the world.
His most famous script, DIAL M FOR MURDER, is about a man who plots the murder of his wealthy wife but has to improvise once she staves off his plan, and was rejected several times before playing successfully on British television in the early 1950s. It then hit the London stage to rave reviews. In 1952 the play opened on Broadway, and in 1954 was adapted by Knott into a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Grace Kelly and Ray Milland.
His second most popular play, WAIT UNTIL DARK, ran for 374 performances on Broadway in 1966 and earned actress Lee Remick a Tony Award nomination for her portrayal of a blind woman terrorized by thugs. In 1967 the play was made into a popular film of the same name starring Alan Arkin and Audrey Hepburn. It was revived on Broadway in 1998 in a production starring Marisa Tomei and Quentin Tarantino. His third play, WRITE ME A MURDER, opened on Broadway in 1961 and ran for twenty-five weeks. Fredrick Knott passed away in 2002.
Jeffrey Hatcher’s Broadway credits include: NEVER GONNA DANCE (book). Off-Broadway credits include: THREE VIEWINGS and A PICASSO at Manhattan Theatre Club; THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR at Red Bull Theater; SCOTLAND ROAD and THE TURN OF THE SCREW at Primary Stages; LUCKY DUCK (book w/ Bill Russell) at the New Victory Theater; TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE (w/ Mitch Albom) at the Minetta Lane Theatre; MURDER BY POE, THE TURN OF THE SCREW, and A CONNECTICUT YANKEE AT KING ARTHUR’S COURT at the Acting Company; TEN CHIMNEYS at Peccadillo Theater Company; NEDDY at American Place; and FELLOW TRAVELERS at Manhattan Punchline. Other theatre credits include: COMPLEAT FEMALE STAGE BEAUTY, MRS. MANNERLY, MURDERERS, MERCY OF A STORM, SMASH, ARMADALE, KORCZAK’S CHILDREN, WORK SONG (w/ Eric Simonson), TO FOOL THE EYE, SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SUICIDE CLUB, JEFFREY HATCHER’S HAMLET, THE SCARECROW AND HIS SERVANT, DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, THE CRITIC, HOLMES AND WATSON, and others at the Guthrie, the Old Globe, Yale Rep, the Geffen, Seattle Rep, Huntington Theatre Company, the Shakespeare Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Cleveland Playhouse, South Coast Rep, Arizona Theatre Company, San Jose Rep, the Empty Space, Indiana Rep, Children’s Theatre Company, History Theatre, Madison Rep, Intiman Theatre, Illusion Theater, Denver Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Rep, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Asolo Repertory Theatre, City Theater, Studio Arena, and dozens more in the US and abroad. FILM/TV: “Stage Beauty,” “Casanova,” “The Duchess,” “Mr. Holmes,” “The Good Liar,” “Columbo,” “Murder at the Cannes Film Festival,” and “The Mentalist.” GRANTS/AWARDS: NEA, TCG, Lila Wallace Fund, Rosenthal New Play Prize, Frankel Award, Charles MacArthur Fellowship Award, McKnight Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Barrymore Award (Best New Play), and the 2013 Ivey Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a member and/or alumnus of the Playwrights’ Center, the Dramatists Guild, the Writers Guild, and New Dramatists.
Reviews
“…a vulnerable woman discovering unexpected resources that allow her to turn the tables on her assailants is still the main draw…goosepimply climax…a gripping finish.” —The Los Angeles Times.
“…reminds CGI-infected audiences that a few shadows, a shiny knife, and compelling characters can still go a long way to create suspense…WAIT UNTIL DARK earns its climax through enthralling, layered characters.” —Entertainment Weekly.
“[Hatcher is] unafraid to recognize that the plot machinations can be baldly apparent, so [his] take is not unlike those repurposed urban spaces that retain the visible industrial pipes and paraphernalia as a design statement. While the audience may well see some of the twists coming, that anticipation becomes a part of the thriller mechanism, adding a meta-tinge that lends some ersatz contemporary fizz…satisfyingly tense, evergreen clever, with gratifying thematic undercurrents.” —The Hollywood Reporter.