Director Vince Petronio has taken an old chestnut of a play and turned it into a tense, tight thriller at The Players, aka Barker Playhouse, America’s Oldest Little Theatre. The intimate East Side theatre has been performing plays for 108 seasons and doesn’t shy away from the classics, even if some of them may be a bit dated.

Some of Frederick Knott’s language is just that, and he spends a bit too much time on exposition, but his second act brings it all together in a dramatic conclusion.

This is not an easy play to pull off. It requires perfect timing and lots of physical activity. Thanks to some tight direction, the actors succeed at every twist and turn.

It also requires an actress who can make you believe that she is blind. Kerstyn Desjardin, in her first production at Barker after several roles with Cranston’s Epic Theatre, is most convincing, tripping over moved chairs, reacting to voices with a blank stare, and using her senses to full capacity.

Many of us are familiar with the story, having seen the movie that shows up on television occasionally. Three gangsters (Ben Conant, Terry Shea and David Adams Murphy) plan an elaborate plot to steal a doll with something quite valuable hidden inside it that is believed to be somewhere in Susy Hendrick’s (Desjardin) Greenwich Village basement apartment. The plot is a bit convoluted, but stick with it as Susy slowly realizes she is being conned and uses her other senses, and her good sense, to take on the bad guys.

There’s a great ending that brings it all together and will leave you cheering for one of the first great heroines of the American stage.

While Barker is a membership organization, everyone is invited to be a member, which really means being a season subscriber. As Director Vince Petronio told the sellout Sunday matinee audience, “We also throw great parties.” The audience is invited downstairs after the performance to enjoy light refreshments and meet the cast.

“Wait Until Dark” is at Barker, 400 Benefit St., at the corner of Barker Way, in Providence Friday and Saturday, January 27 and 28 at 7:30 and Sunday, January 29 at 2 p.m. For information call 273-0590.