That the lab theater in the basement of Russell Hall is called the Black Box is a fine example of truth in advertising. The black-walled room is roughly the size of a regular classroom, divided into performance and seating spaces by support posts that maddeningly interrupt sight lines. It’s a bare-bones space that’s intimate, to say the least.
But these spare accommodations are home to an impressively ambitious production.
Student Performing Artists (SPA), a student group made up of theater-enthusiasts, is preparing for its upcoming performance of “Wait Until Dark.” The ensemble is composed entirely of students who have managed every aspect of the project from direction to acting to set and lighting design. With a short time left before the curtains go up, the group is confident about its work.
“[SPA] shows usually go really smooth or really rocky,” says director Matt Cary, a senior theatre major. “I expected it to be a lot harder but my actors are just really good.”
The group generally does one full-length production per semester and chooses that production months in advance but things didn’t work so smoothly for this show.
The original selection, “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” fell through early this semester and the decision to run “Wait Until Dark,” a decision voted on by the group, was made quickly. The intense, prop-heavy show has been in rehearsal for only four weeks.
“Wait Until Dark,” Frederick Knott’s which was adapted into a 1967 film starring Audrey Hepburn, revolves around a heroin-filled doll that has gone missing in the Greenwich Village apartment of Sam Hendrix (Mark Royer) and his wife Susy (Kelsey MacKilligan, junior theatre major) who is blind.
Enter three con men desperate to get their hands on the doll. Posing as Mike Talman (Steven Johnson, senior theatre major), a friend of Susy’s husband; homicide investigator Sgt. Carlino (Troy Faucher, senior theatre major); and Harry Roat, Jr. (Nathan Greene, sophomore theatre major). The trio tries to convince the blind woman to find the doll herself and turn it over to protect her husband from being linked to a nearby murder.
Susy senses that something is amiss, however, and manages to thwart the crooks using against them the blindness they tried to exploit.
The cast is rounded out by Andrea Lopez as Gloria, the girl who lives upstairs, and Matthew Curtis and Anna Gravel as Detectives Summers and O’Neil.
The suspenseful show is a tall order, especially since the group is not guided by faculty as main stage productions are, but that’s exactly the point for many participants.
“SPA’s really wonderful because it gives students a chance to put their all in it,” says Steve Johnson who, with Cary, co-chairs the SPA. Johnson also notes that while “Wait Until Dark” involves mostly theatre majors, the group is also an opportunity for people outside the theatre department to get involved. “It’s always been really good about and really encourages people who are not majors.”
Cary also feels that the trial-by-fire approach of student-run SPA performances is a valuable tool for young actors, directors, and designers. “You learn so much in classrooms, but the experience comes from hands-on,” he says.
“Wait Until Dark” runs Oct. 25-28 with doors opening at 7 p.m. on Thurs., Fri., and Sat., and 4:30 on Sun. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased through the main stage box office.
Arts and Entertainment Editor Meghan Conley can be contacted at [email protected]