DARK VICTORY

 Disability transformed in a gripping and tension-filled noir

Amalia Tonogbanua and Eliza Barmakian

Director Weylin Symes provides unerring direction of the classic thriller Wait Until Dark at the Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham, Massachusetts. This modern adaptation of the 1966 Broadway play by Frederick Knott enjoys superb sound (Caroline Eng) and lighting design (Jeff Adelberg) to transform scenic designer Katy Monthei’s compact yet complex basement apartment into a noir set that perfectly evokes its 1944 setting.

Paul Melendy

Evocative jazz and chords that rise in pitch and volume ratchet up the suspense in this story of a blind woman fighting for survival in her apartment. Evocative lighting emphasizes shadows and danger. The well-calibrated semidarkness is not just a backdrop for action. Lead Susan Hendrix (Eliza Barmakian) employs darkness and her own wits to defend herself from a murderous Roat (Paul Melendy).

Paul Melendy and Eliza Barmakian

Susan was not born without sight. Her visual impairment is the result of an accident a year and a half earlier. She is aided by young Gloria (Amalia Tonogbanua), an adolescent neighbor who is mischievous to the point of mild cruelty at the beginning of the show. Tonogbanua captures this role well; she teases and taunts, sometimes going so far as to lie and gaslight Susan.

Susan would like to be rid of Gloria, but husband Sam (Thain Bertin) insists that Susan, given her lack of mastery of the skills she needs to function independently, needs Gloria’s assistance when his work as a photographer keeps him away from home.

Bill Mootos and Paul Melendy

While the audience has already seen gangsters Carlino (Bill Mootos) and Roat hiding in Susan’s apartment and searching for something they believe her husband possesses, Susan herself remains unaware. When she returns home after an outing with him, she notices that things seem out of place—but blames young Gloria.

Amalia Tonogbanua and Eliza Barmakian

As portrayed by Barmakian, Susan is vulnerable yet determined. Despite her self-doubt, she is attractive and even alluring; it’s easy to believe that Sam is in love with her. Even so, she is not immune to self-pity and is easily manipulated when the play begins. She doubts Sam’s loyalty and has moments when she feels frustrated and even defeated.

Eliza Barmakian and Thain Bertin

But as the drama unfolds, Susan and Gloria set aside their squabbles and form an alliance. Then Susan draws on all her skills, including an acute sense of hearing and an ability to plot and confuse, to fight for her survival.

Melendy, as always, is terrific as the villain Roat. Mamadou Toure (Mike) is likewise excellent as the apparent good guy, Sam’s old Marine buddy, and the one person Susan trusts to help her fend off the nefarious schemes of Carlino and Roat.

Eliza Barmakian and Mamadou Toure

But in the shadows of noir, things are not always what they seem. Susan ultimately draws on her intelligence and insight, if not her eyes, to determine who she can trust in this satisfyingly fraught production of crime and vengeance.

Eliza Barmakian

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photos by Nile Scott Studio

Wait Until Dark
Greater Boston Stage Company
395 Main Street in Stoneham, MA
ends on March 22, 2026 (audio description March 21 & 22 at 2pm)
for tickets ($25-69), call 781-279-2200 or visit GBSC

for more shows, visit Theatre in Boston

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Lynne Weiss is a member of the Boston Theater Critics Association. Her work has also appeared in Literary Ladies Guide and in The Common, Black Warrior Review, and the Ploughshares Blog. She has an MFA from UMass Amherst and has received residencies from Yaddo, the Millay Colony, and Vermont Studio Center and grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. A lifelong social justice activist, she is at work on a novel set in 1930s Cornwall. Her reviews, travel tales, and progressively optimistic opinions are on her substack.