When I signed up for the Repertory Philipines’ Gold Year Pass, I reserved seats to all the last show dates of all five (5) plays because experience has taught me that when it comes to these things, they really do reserve the best for last. Usually, by the time they reach the end, all the various bugs have been squished and all little hiccups have been ironed out. Comedic timings have been perfected and all punch lines are delivered on cue. Everybody (the actors, the production staff, etc) gives everything but the kitchen sink to the audience because, after all, this is the last hoorah.

For the first time in my life, I sat through a show by myself — an experience that’s for the books, surely.

Being the first show in Repertory Philippines’ Season 77, Wait Until Dark is a suspense thriller straight play that has two acts. I think that it maybe because of the incredibly affordable rates that the year pass offers, but literally all the Orchestra Center seats are full and other people were sprinkled sparsely everywhere else. It’s a shame that droves of people don’t flock to solid productions like these but I guess it’s a good trade-off, selfishly, since they don’t become too crowded.

Directed by Miguel Faustmann (most recently seen as the King in Resorts World Manila’s Cinderella) the story opens in an unlocked house, which small time ex-con Mike (Joel Trinidad – Avenue Q, The Producers) enters. It’s apparent that the house is not his because very quickly he rummages through the things, his snooping only interrupted when fellow ex-con, former colleague and rival to hottie Lisa’s affections, Croker (Robbie Guevara – the artistic director to last year’s Grease) shows up. While pretending to be the house’s owner, Mike learns that Croker received the same phone call half an hour earlier: to go to this address for a quick job that will earn them a quick £250. Mike confesses that he has no idea what the job is either and the both of them resume their snooping for clues. They also resolve their Lisa issue, after finding that they’ve both been dumped for another man.

The plot thickens when Roat (Arnel Carrion – Resorts World Manilia’s The King and I, The Joy Luck Club) enters the house, fully clad in surgical gloves as to not leave any prints, and informs them that he needs their help in finding a heroin filled doll that Lisa was supposed to smuggle into the country from Amsterdam, worth upwards of £20,000. Finding the stakes a bit too high for their tastes, Mike and Croker initially refuse but eventually relent upon Roat’s revelation that he’s already killed Lisa and stored her in the very house that has Mike and Croker’s fingerprints all over the place. Roat informs that the doll was accidentally handed over to the owner of the Notting Hill house they were occupying and it was only a matter of a small con to get the owners — husband Sam (Lorenz Martinez – Resorts World Manila’s Lun Tha in The King and I) and wife Susy (Liesl Batucan — the beggar woman in 2009’s Sweeney Todd) — to hand it over. Because the doll is worth so much, Roat, Mike and Croker agree to get the husband out of the house and instead focus their efforts on the housewife.

Their discussion is interrupted when said housewife Susy blunders through the house and very quickly they learn that she’s blind. After Susy leaves, they quickly build an elaborate con where, after making sure that the husband Sam is well out of town, Mike poses as an old friend and with the participation of “officer” Croker and “disgruntled husband” Roat, they pressure Susy into thinking that Sam has murdered his mistress Lisa after an argument. They imply heavily that the only thing tying Sam to the murder is a doll that came from Amsterdam and it is imperative that the doll be destroyed to clear his name.

The con is pretty much going according to plan, with the only hiccup being that Susy honestly has no idea where the doll is. Enter Susy’s next door teenaged neighbour Gloria (Daniella Gana – The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Alice in Wonderland) to complicate the plot. With Gloria’s help, Susy learns that she’s being swindled and tries to gain the upper hand by setting up the very house that she knows like the back of her hand. Suddenly Roat, Mike and Croker realize that it’s not that easy to take advantage of a blind woman in her own turf.

As usual, the performances were outstanding and I seriously commend the cast for creating such tension inside the theater. I’m sure that was much more difficult than anybody realizes; there was even one scene in the second act when the whole theater gasped and jumped in surprise. Sure, the first act was a bit slow going at first (a friend even told me that he actually fell asleep during Act I when he saw the play) but things really revved up a lot in Act II. Everybody was leaning forward in their seats and waiting with bated breath for what happens next.

The set was fantastic as well — everything was laid out properly and meticulous details were included so that everything just made sense and came together in the end. Although if I had to nitpick (and I do, I really, really do), I have to say that I wasn’t the biggest fan of Joel Trinidad’s British accent. Everybody else had theirs down pat, but his was a bit weak and perhaps needed a bit more practice.

It was quite a different experience, walking out of Onstage Theater after seeing a thriller as opposed to a heavy drama or a fluffy musical extravaganza. My mind was so wrapped up with what happened in the play that I didn’t even notice that I had already walked all the way to my car in the parking lot.

As far as season openers go, this was one hell of a bang and I can’t wait for their next show, August: Osage County.

*All images are courtesy of the official Wait Until Dark playbook.