Wait Until Dark

wait until dark
by frederick knott
adapted by jeffrey hatcher
Directed by mark shanahan

January 28 - february 15, 2026

A woman alone.
A secret she doesn’t know she has.
And criminals who made a deadly mistake.

In a 1944 Greenwich Village apartment, a blind woman is threatened by criminals. As the climax builds, Susan discovers that her blindness just might be the key to her escape, IF she can manage to stall her tormentors until dark. This masterfully constructed thriller moves from one moment of suspense to another as it builds toward a heart-stopping finale.

This isn’t a story driven by spectacle or special effects. It’s a slow-burn thriller that tightens its grip moment by moment, where every sound matters and every shadow feels closer than it should. As the lights fade, the danger doesn’t disappear. It intensifies.

Wait Until Dark runs January 28 – February 15 at the Wells Theatre in downtown Norfolk.

• Show info

  Run Time: 2 hours with one 15-minute intermission

  Audience Recommendation: Ages 13+ 

  Content Advisory: Strong language, violence, sudden loud noises, prolonged periods of complete darkness, smoking of herbal cigarettes, mild adult themes.

• Events

  January 28-30 | Preview Performances
  January 31 @ 7:30PM | Opening Night Performance
  February 1 @ 2:00PM | Post Show Talkback
  February 7 @ 2:00PM | Audio Description & Open Captioning*
  February 7 @ 7:30PM | ASL Performance* and Theater for Everyone
  February 8 @ 2:00PM | Post Show Talkback
  February 8 @ 7:30PM | Pay What You Can

  *Seating for Audio Description & Open Captioning is provided in the Orchestra Left. Please use promo code “AccessVA” on checkout for proper booking.

  *Seating for ASL is provided in the Orchestra Left side of the House. Please use promo code “ASL” on checkout for proper booking.

• Creative team

  Directed by MARK SHANAHAN
  Scenic Designer JO WINIARSKI
  Costume Designer JENI SCHAEFER
  Lighting Designer JULIE H. DURO
  Sound Designer JOHN GROMADA
  Fight Choreographer SETH BRIDGES*
  Resident Casting Director EMEL ERTUGRUL
  Casting Director KATJA ZAROLINSKI/ KZ CASTING
  Production Stage Manager KIM FULLER*
  Assistant Stage Manager ABBIGAIL LAROCQUE

CasT (In order of appearance):

• Triney Sandoval*

  TRINEY SANDOVAL (Carlino) BROADWAY: Bernhardt/Hamlet, Marvin’s Room, MACBETH, A Free Man of Color, A Man for All Seasons, Frost/Nixon. OFF BROADWAY: 72 Miles to Go…(Drama Desk nomination),The Thin Place, Dig, Boswell, Timon of Athens, The Idiot, As You Like it, Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue, Important Hats of the 20th Century. REGIONAL: La Jolla Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse,  The Old Globe Theatre, American Players Theatre, Wilma Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Alliance Theatre, Virginia Stage, Center Stage, Yale Rep., Milwaukee Rep., San Jose Rep., CATF, Alabama Shakespeare, Idaho Shakespeare, California Shakespeare, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, The Oregon Shakespeare Festival among others. TV: Blue Bloods, Prodigal Son, The Black List, Elementary, The Sopranos, recurring roles on Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU.

• Meredith Parker*

  MEREDITH PARKER (Susan) VSC debut! Parker is a proud associate artist at Flint Repertory Theatre (Flint, MI), where she previously appeared in The Glass Menagerie, The Wolves, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, Into The Woods, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, New Works Festivals's Quiver, Funny Like Haha, Legacy and the Flint Mural Plays. Additional recent favorite credits include Confederates (Detroit Public Theatre) and Little Women (Tipping Point Theatre). For my husband, North Star and forever teammate, Drew, and my best girl, Jules.

• Steve Pacek*

  STEVE PACEK (Mike) VSC performance credits: The Hound of the Baskervilles, A Merry Little Christmas Carol, The 39 Steps, Dial M for Murder and The Legend of Georgia McBride. Other area credits include: Rathskeller (The Z); Hedwig & the Angry Inch (Roūge). Other regional credits include: Falsettos, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (*Barrymore award - supporting actor), Assassins, A Year With Frog and Toad, Metamorphoses, The Secret Garden and Clybourne Park (Arden); Mary Poppins (Quintessence); Titanic and The Bomb-itty of Errors (Milwaukee Rep); Hand to God (Alley Theater); See Monsters of the Deep (White Heron); Peter and the Starcatcher (TheatreSquared & Arkansas Rep); The Glass Menagerie (Cardinal Stage). Check out www.stevepacek.com for more info!  Ithaca College Alum. Big thanks to Mark and to the whole VSC gang for always having me back!

• Seth andrew Bridges*

  SETH ANDREW BRIDGES (Roat, Fight Director) is a NYC based actor and stuntman, and is thrilled to make his VA Stage debut! Off Broadway: Mint Theatre Company. Regional: Denver Center, Alley Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Pioneer Theatre Company, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Westport Country Playhouse, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Riverside Theatre, Gulfshore Playhouse, Syracuse Stage, Geva Theatre Center, Florida Repertory Theatre, TheatreSquared, and White Heron Theatre Company. Film and TV: Over 100 credits, including Best Medicine, Only Murders in the Building, Severance, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Your Friends and Neighbors, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, American Horror Story, and Law & Order. Interactive: Red Dead Redemption 2. Training: NYU Tisch. For Sam Wright, always.

• Mike Gerbi*

  MIKE GERBI (Sam) is thrilled to be making his VSC debut! Originally from Fresno, Ca and based in NYC. New York Theatre credits include The Count of Monte Cristo and Pride and Prejudice (Hudson Classical Theater), Mud (Lenfest Centre of the Arts), Dollars to Doughnuts (Theater for a New City) and Off The Books (Irish Arts Center – Staged Reading). Regional Theatre: Treasure Island (Classic Theater of Maryland), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Theatricum Botanicum), All My Sons (Elite Theater Company), and Hamlet directed by Michael Attenborough CBE (Sainsbury Theatre, London). Mike also executive produced, wrote and starred in the short film Missing Her, which won Best Short at the New York City Film Festival and was nominated for Best Short in numerous festivals including BAFTA qualifying Aesthetica Short Film and Carmarthen Bay Film Festivals. Graduated from LAMDA. Always grateful to Berg and my close friends and family. www.MikeGerbi.com @mike.gerbi

• Wyllow Smith

  WYLLOW SMITH (Gloria) Wyllow is thrilled and grateful to return to Virginia Stage Company in a new and exciting type of production as Gloria. She previously appeared with VSC for two seasons in A Christmas Carol, making this return especially meaningful. An eighth grader in the honors program at her school, Wyllow is actively involved as a cheerleader and a member of chorus, where she was selected for District Chorus and is currently auditioning for All-State Middle School Chorus. She continues her dance training at the Academy of Classical and Contemporary Dance and studies musical theatre each summer with Coastal Broadway Collaborative, in addition to private vocal and acting lessons year-round. She would like to thank Candice Heidelberg-Denison for private coaching that helped her prepare for the audition, her family who support her every step of the way, and the many organizations that have supported her artistic growth, including The Hurrah Players, UPAC, Coastal Broadway Collaborative, Virginia Stage Company, GVI Productions, and Virginia Musical Theatre. Recent credits include Racing the Night (GVI Productions), The Lightning Thief (The Hurrah Players), and Black Girl Magic (UPAC).

*denotes Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

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