8/3/2019 Kaleidescope October 12, 2011:Wait Until Dark

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Until

By KIRBY NEUMANN-REANews Editor

With Wait Until Dark, openingThursday at CAST, you first have to getpast Harry Roats get-up.

The only way to describe it is sinisterhipster.

Your eyes are drawn to that costume, andyet you are repelled by it. Tom Butler (lastseen in To Kill A Mockingbird) wears itwell: the tight, slick gray leather coat, thattoo-small porkpie hat, those dark glasses,and the inscrutable menace you know it allconceals.

What if recently-blinded Suzy Hendrix

could see Harry Roats shiny veneer? To callhim reptilian is an affront to snakes.

We can see the terror that Suzy Hendrixmust be feeling. She is played by ClaraCook, last seen in a full CAST dramatic pro-duction in The Laramie Project in 2010.

The tricky part of playing Suzy is shehad sight, which has probably been a savinggrace, because you can still show emotionand reaction, you just cant really focus, andyour tracking is behind where the body ismoving, Cook said.

Its a difficult role. Shes on stage thewhole time other than first scene, said di-rector Richard Parker.

Ironically in the case of Suzy Hendrix,there is, of course, much more that meetsthe eye.

Wait Until Dark all takes place in abasement,insulated andclosed in:one blind

woman against three sighted men in a life-and-death struggle.

The feeling is not exactly claustrophobic,but the story gives it a deliciously unnerv-ing closed-in feel. The windows are them-selves a keyplotpoint, butby their presencethey remind us there is an open outside thatcannot be reached.

The setting of this play lends itself topanic. Harry Roat is down there.

Truly, it forces the question put forth farmore effectively than other tales of sus-pense:whatwould you do if therereally wasonly one way out?

If you were Suzy Hendrix, what wouldyou do?

Wait Until Dark is a technically chal-lenging play.

B e -y o n dthat ofp o r -trayinga b l i ndw o m a n ,accordingto Parker, theother challengei s to a llowenough room tow o rk b u t a l s ofeellikeyoure ina Greenwich Vil-lage apartment. To

t r y t o p ul l i t f o r-ward, make it full-s e e m in g , a n d h a veroom for all of those peoplemoving around on stage, mov-ing around quickly and virtually in thedark.

Its tricky and very technical, and its inthe dark, Butler said.

Judith Poage designed the set, which in-cludes a working refrigerator, sink withrunning water, and double stair case.

Most of the time I tell people to ignorestage directions, Parker said. Not in thisplay. You have to pay very specific attentionto them. Its a really well-constructed script.It takes the audience where you want to go.

Its such a puzzle, Parker said. I knew

that it was detailed, but whatwe noticed going in prepar-ing for the play is that in

every production Ive beenable to find photos of, the setlooked pretty much the same.

We found out that if youstart trying to move something

to a different place on the setyoud end up rewriting the playbecause of the things that have tohappen and where people move.

Tom Burns (Sgt. Carlino) notedthat, unlike many plays,

every prop on stage serves

a purpose.Stage manager Kathy

Williams said, Our taskis get people on at theright time with the right

props, and there are a lotof props. Sheis assisted byAdrian Chaton.

The great part is the in-teraction between the char-acters, Cook said. Every

time we have a rehearsal, newthings come up.

Cook projects well as a recentlyblinded woman still coming toterms with her permanent condi-tion as well as pedestrian detailssuch as how furniture is located,what goods she has in the refrigera-

tor, and the prankster activities of

the upstairs neighbor, a little girlnamed Gloria.

Phoebe Wood, (age 6 and in her firsttheatrical part) gives a wry quality to the

pesky neighbor who tries to be helpful butyields to impulses caused by her youth aswell as her own troubles at home.

Many plays or movies depict a group ofvillains working together. There is usuallyone sidekick, and the conflict between theringleader and follower(s) develops late.

But the brilliance of Wait Until Dark isthe way it immediately creates that rift, andHarry Roats villainy gets darkly illuminat-ed against the cowardice and contrition ofthe two rubes he associates himself with.

Wait

Wednesday, October 12, 2011 B1

Inside: B2, Local newsI B3, HappeningsI B5, YesteryearsI B7, ClassifiedsI B12, Neighbors,

Dar

k

Dar

kShow opens Thursday at CAST

I Oct. 13, 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22 at7:30 p.m. and Oct. 16 at 2:00 p.m.I Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for

students and seniors, $8 for children 11and under and $10 for groups of 10+.

I Tickets are available at ColumbiaArts and Waucoma Bookstore in HoodRiver, and online via the Columbia

Gorge Center for the Arts website,www.columbiaarts.com

W H A T W O U L D Y O U D O

I F T H E R E R E A L LY W A S

O N LY O N E W A Y O U T ?

MENACE in the basement:Harry Roat (Tom Butler) andMike Tallman (Will Thayer-Daugherty) top, plot againstSuzy Hendrix (Clara Cook). Sodoes Sgt. Carlino (Tom Burns),at right. The phone is one ofSuzys few links to the outsideand husband, Sam (GalenMcMahon) middle right. So isher precocious neighbor, Glo-ria (Phoebe Wood) aboveright.

Photos byAdam Lapierre

Please see SHOW, Page B6

UntilWait

8/3/2019 Kaleidescope October 12, 2011:Wait Until Dark

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B6 Hood River News, Wednesday, October 12, 2011

T h ey a r e S gt . C a rl i no(Burns) and Mike Tallman(Will Thayer-Daugherty).Burns had the lead role inlast springs All My Sons,

and Thayer-Daugherty per-formed this summer in bothTo Kill A Mockingbird andJesus Christ Superstar.

Tallmanand Carlino (weneverlearn theirreal names)possess doubts and evenscruples Harry Roat willn e v e rf e e l, a n ds o t he ymake hims e e m a l lthe moreh u m a nfor it.

In thisg o o d -c r o o k -bad-crook

scenario,l i tt le i ssimple. In a trio of crookscomprising the totality of apersona, Harry Roat is thedarkest part of human na-ture. And thats the disturb-ing thing about Harry Roat,who stands stark in his ownshadows: you know hes ahuman figure. You so wanthim tobe a caricature, but hefeels all too real.

P l a y w r i gh t F r e d e r i c kKnott even gives him the fullname Harry Roat Jr. Hessomebodys boy; can he real-ly be that bad?

A s W a i t U n t i l D a r k ratchets up tension in actone, the presence of the vil-lains and the growing real-ization of their plans serve

as two dramatic actions hap-pening at once. They rubagainst each other, addingfriction to the basic sense ofdread you feel the momentHarry Roat enters the room.

Even as Suzys caring, butc l o d d i sh , h u s b a n d , S a m(Galen McMahon leaves theapartment early on, youknow something bad is afoot.

Essentially, the bad guystry to connive Suzy into giv-ing up the heroin-filled dollshe unwittingly possesses.They do so by playing on herdeepest fears, and you feel adoubleset of emotions as you

w a t c ht he m d oso: its thet h ri ll o f w i t n e s s -ing the un-folding ofa f a lsestory, thes h e e rmeanness

gradually dawning on

you.But Roat and his twoassociates must communi-cate non-verbally as Suzy en-ters the room.

You understand what theyare up to and you also do notwant to understand. Its acreepily entertaining con-struct, and its possible to al-most feel sorry for men sodesperate they will plant poi-sonous seeds of doubt in themind of an innocent woman,as a precursor to far worseacts.

The three baddies are atalky trio who, in early expo-sition, lay the groundworkfor the twisty story within a

story, a cynical ruse wrappedin an evil deceit.

SHOWContinued from Page B1

RICHARDPARKERdirects theCASTproduction,Wait UntilDark.

MIKE TALLMAN(Will Thayer-

Daugherty) hassecond thoughts

about his in-volvement withthe chameleon-like Harry Roat

(Tom Butler).

Photo byAdam Lapierre

Hood River Sewing & Vacuum sponsoreda free machine drawing to help raise aware-ness of breast cancer awareness, early de-tection methods and research.

Partnering with Janome USA, ProudSponsor of National Breat Cancer Founda-tion, Janome is donating a portion of allsales of the special edition Pink Ribbonbranded models to the Susan G. Komenfund.

October is national Breast Cancer Aware-ness Month. Unfortunately we all knowfolks locally who have been devastated bythis disease and while there are many moresurvivors now than ever before, there is stillmuch that needs to be done.

Early detection, better treatments andcontinuing research for a cure are the goalsof this ongoing campaign. Eileen Utroske,Owner. Hood River Sewing & Vacuum hasPink Ribbon models and the full Janomeline of machines and accessories in stock.

By JULIE RAEFIELD-GOBBONews staff writer

Non-profit groups who bring im-provements to the quality of life in theGorge have a new opportunity for sup-port.

The Gorge Community Foundationannounced this week that it is accept-

ing grant applications from nonprofitslocated or operating in the ColumbiaRiver Gorge area for the Joan BurchellFund.

Created through a bequest after Ms.Burchells death in December 2008, theBurchell Fund will provide annualcharitable grants where they are mostneeded.

In this second funding cycle, thetotal amount available for granting is$9,600 and proposals will be acceptedfor any amount up to that total.

Last year, six organizations received

a total of $9,200 as follows:I Columbia Gorge Cat Rescue; $900

for feline care kits for foster homesI St. Francis House in Odell; $4,000

for rent assistanceI Skamania County 4-H; $1,000 for

preparation of Kids Care BagsI Helping Hands Against Violence;

$2,000 for counseling servicesI Hood River County 4-H; $650 for

After-School LEGO RoboticsI Klickitat County 4-H Leaders

Council; $650 for visioning retreatBurchell lived in the Parkdale area

for the last 20 years of her life. Afterretiring from her job at Readers Di-gest in Chappaqua,N.Y., she reported-ly found the perfect fit in the commu-nity of Mount Hood.

According to friends, Burchell wassomething of a contradiction interms. On one hand, she lived frugally

in a 420-square-foot cabin on 5 forestedacres, yet was equally comfortable at-tending a variety of very proper cul-tural and educational events.

Her spirit, humor, independenceand interest in all things endeared herto manypeople,says Joyce Weseman, alongtime friend.Joanwas a trueexam-ple of living life on ones own terms.

With the creation of an endowmentfund with the Gorge Community Foun-dation, Burchell continues to offer alegacy of support to the communityshe loved.

The 64th Make It WithWool contest sponsored bythe Oregon Sheep GrowersAssociation will take placein Sunriver on Dec. 3 at the

Growers convention.The contest promotes thebeauty and versatility ofw o o l f a b r i c s a n d y a r n swhile encouraging personalcreativity in sewing, knit-ting or crocheting with wool

fabrics and yarns. Entriesmust be wool or wool blendgarments made by the con-testants.

Age divisions open to all

genders include Preteens,age 12 and under; Juniors 13-16; Seniors, 17-24; & adults 25and older. The winners ofthe Junior (13-16) and Senior(17-24) divisions will win ana l l e x p e ns e p a id t r ip t o

Scottsdale, Ariz., to competein theNational Contestat theAmerican Sheep GrowersConvention Jan. 25-28, 2012.

Oregons Adult division

winners garment will besent to the National compe-tition where the winner willbe chosen to model at theNational Convention StyleReview. For information andentry forms on the 64th

Make It With Wool con-test, contact Oregon Direc-tor Maureen Krebs 69956Highway 74, Ione OR 97843,or call 541-422-7548 or go to

eatlamb@wildblue.net.The state and nationalw e b s i t e s w w w. O r e go nMIW W. co m a n dwww.MakeItWithWool.comalso have complete informa-tion.

Dahl wins Pink

Ribbon sewingmachine drawing

TERI DAHL of Hood River, right, accepts the Janome Pink Ribbon DC4030machine from Eileen Utroske, Owner of Hood River Sewing & Vacuum.

Submitted photo

Community Foundation offers grants

Make It With Wool contest announced

Applicants: Submit proposals byOct. 15. Complete grant guidelines

are available for download from theGorge Community Foundation web-

site at www.gorgecf.org.