Wait Until Dark Reviews
Chicago Tribune- Recommended
"...A nail-biting theatrical thriller is a great way to boost the audience at Court and ease some of the tensions of our nervous times. Like a few other dramas of its type and era, "Wait Until Dark" is a very clever play with an intricate plot that moves from discovery to complication to revelation with the surety of a veteran New York cabdriver negotiating Central Park."
Chicago Sun Times- Recommended
"...This is not the usual sort of play you might find at Court, but director Ron OJ Parson clearly feels it is "a classic" of its genre and one that sets up some difficult challenges for actors (he's right). And his use of a multi-ethnic (rather than the usual all-white) cast adds just the subtlest edge to several aspects of the play. (No accident that the Hendrix couple lives in the Village, the rare place their black-Asian marriage might have been acceptable at the time, or that blindness takes on many meanings.)"
Chicago Reader- Somewhat Recommended
"...The gimmicky plot relies on the audience's belief in Susy's growing anxiety as she gradually comprehends the danger she's in. But in director Ron OJ Parson's pedestrian, slackly paced revival, Emjoy Gavino fails to register Susy's emotional crisis, and the production never comes close to generating the terror achieved by the brilliantly acted 1967 film version featuring Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin."
Examiner- Highly Recommended
"...The cast’s body language and facial expressions may be rendered momentarily meaningless, the set invisible and costuming irrelevant, but director Ron OJ Parson manages to create a world of nerve-jangling tension. Eventually, we do get the occasional spark of a lit match as the harrowing cat-and-mouse game between a sociopath predator and his blind prey plays out. But make no mistake: This is a world of dark shadows and darker intent. The dim glow of a kitchen appliance or the brief flare of a flame only serves to accentuate the sense of monsters lurking in murky corners. A master of gotcha moments, Parson delivers a thriller capable of unsettling even those with nerves of steel."
Chicago Free Press- Highly Recommended
"...Most of the show percolates slowly on psychological suspense, and director Ron OJ Parson’s production owes a good deal to the likeability of its diminutive star, Emjoy Gavino, who delivers a smart, brave heroine. Act Two’s extended climax probably wouldn’t satisfy a bloodthirsty generation accustomed to horror porn like “Saw,” but at last weekend’s matinee, I heard plenty of gasps and screams in all the right places. (I knew what was coming, and I still felt nervous.) In those final 10 minutes or so, all the elements come together: Knott’s script, cranked up to full boil; the clever lighting-design gimmick; Ray Nardelli and Joshua Horvath’s spare but effective sound design; and a chilling performance by John Hoogenakker, who finally lets loose all of his villain’s sadistic tendencies. In continuing to expand the standard definition of “classic,” Court Theatre makes you realize how seldom it is to find quality suspense onstage."
EpochTimes- Highly Recommended
"...Every little detail of this production works: the lighting effects by Marc Stubblefield, The sound by Josh Horvath and Ray Nardelli and Matthew Hawkin's fight choreography - all perfect! Even the scenes in the dark ( Susy has removed all the fuses and had Gloria break all the bulbs in the hall so that they would be on a level playing field), although we could not see much were made very clear to us by the staging and the actors vocal inflections. This is not an easy task, but the Court players managed to open our eyes through our ears- true genius!"
Chicago Stage Review- Recommended
"...Director Ron OJ Parson constructs an outstanding thriller. This is a complicated script to deliver as it is filled with subtle information that is vital to the story’s success. Miss one piece and the puzzle is ruined but Parson creates a clear picture with a tight dramatic build. As well as having a detailed script, Wait Until Dark relies on a technically detailed realization. Light, sound and staging are critical to the success of the production and the design team if flawless."
Time Out Chicago- Recommended
"...What’s unexpected is how many laughs the production holds. Then again, maybe we’re looking for comedy to break the tension that’s established early on by Knott’s ingenious reverse-structure conceit, in which we know the criminals’ plot from the beginning and wait nervously for Susy to figure it out."
ChicagoCritic- Recommended
"...I appreciated the sizzling work from Emjoy Gavino who takes Susy from naive to survivor and who turns darkness into an asset. Aaron Todd Douglass exudes charm while John Hoogenakker is an effectively scary psychopath who terrorizes Susy. The nature of evil is well defined here. This show is fine escapist theatre. It is paced well with measured performances and a breathtaking ending."
Chicago Stage and Screen- Highly Recommended
"...Some of the best moments of suspense you'll ever see come in the final five or ten minutes of "Wait Until Dark," the 1960's thriller by Frederick Knott, whose "Dial M for Murder" kept theatre and movie-goers on the edge of their seats a decade earlier. It's always fun to watch an audience collectively jump out of their seats as if on cue. And if you haven't experienced this taut and juicy classic in its theatrical or cinematic form lately, you will thoroughly enjoy Court Theatre's faithful and crisply entertaining production."