Do You Frighten Easily?

That’s the question asked by Tehachapi Community Theatre’s season opener Wait Until Dark. The 1967 film starring Audrey Hepburn was listed in the AFI top 100 suspense/thrillers, and terror lurks in this play.

Susy Hendrix (Audriana Lathrop) lost her vision in an accident only a year before and is still learning to deal with her new reality. She has been helped in this by her new husband Sam (played by Joseph Lathrop in his TCT debut), who is firm but encouraging.

And it is Sam’s basic goodness that gets them in trouble. On a trip to Montreal, he agrees to take a musical doll over the border for a woman’s daughter. What he doesn’t know is that the doll contains a secret. Which probably wouldn’t have been an issue, except when the woman arrives to pick up the doll, it can’t be found.

Then Harry Roat (Thaer Irvin) enlists the help of conmen Mike (David Shacklock) and Carlino (Eric Leiss) to spin a web of fear around Susy.

The elaborate con includes mysterious telephone calls, stories of extramarital affairs, and a recently murdered woman. With Sam sent away on a photography job, Susy’s left alone to deal with her home invaded by con men, and worse, with only the young girl from the apartment upstairs (Gloria, played by Madison Barton) providing her any connection to her normal life.

The suspense builds until the final dramatic conclusion.

Elmer Acevedo and Kenny Chugg round out the cast of Wait Until Dark, directed by Gary Mazzola. The show plays October 10, 11, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22 and 23, 2014.

All SEATS are $15 online at http://www.tctonstage.com and at these agencies: Treasure Trove; Johnny’s Take n’ Bake; and Tehachapi Furniture.

Given the nature of the play, it may not be suitable for small children.