A Review - Gaslight
- G. Schaffner
- Oct 26, 2019
- 6 min read
Updated: Nov 17, 2019
The new theatre season continues here in the Antelope Valley with Cedar Street Theatre’s first offering: Gaslight directed by Sharon Roberts. I have to admit that all I knew about the show itself prior to attending tonight’s performance is that it is a psychological thriller. However, I did also know that two actors with whom I had recently shared the stage in It’s a Wonderful Life were starring in the performance and was looking forward to seeing them.
Gaslight was written by Patrick Hamilton in 1938 and the actual story takes place in London in 1880. The style of acting and story telling, therefore, match the era in which the play is written. Director Roberts effectively staged a melodrama with all of the exaggerated suspense and emotion that comes with it. The show has some standout performances and has a set that is quite beautiful. It is a good, old-fashioned story that anyone who loves old black and white movies or a good mystery would definitely enjoy. Additionally, it's a fun story for the Halloween season which is upon us.
Please be aware that from this point forward, there are spoilers to the show. This is a suspenseful show with much to be revealed throughout the evening. If you are planning to see the show and do not wish to know plot points, I would suggest you skip down to the bottom of the page to read about upcoming theatre events.
Before I get into the good stuff about this show, I do have a criticism. There is a paragraph in the program that explains what the term gaslighting means. The definition is "the process of making someone doubt their own reality and the concept of gaslighting illuminated a certain type of abusive relationship". Stating this in the program seems innocent enough, but in a way, it is a spoiler of the show. The story begins with Mr. and Mrs. Manningham discussing and arguing over her forgetfulness and her inability to follow her husband's orders (please be forgiving with the outdated, overly male-dominated type of relationship; remember this was written more than 80 years ago when such relationships were unfortunately the norm). Because of the paragraph in the program, instead of believing that Mrs. Manningham is slowly losing her mind, we are already aware that her husband is manipulating her into believing she is losing her mind. This should be something that the audience does not realize until the second act. With that said, the show still has a lot of mystery to it with many details to be revealed.
William J. Schwartzbaugh plays Mr. Manningham. Throughout the first two acts of this three act play, he plays his character appropriately with a subdued mysterious quality and a touch of creepiness. The character really is unlikable in the way he treats females (not a fault of the actor or director), but as I said, this comes from a 21st century point of view. As the play progresses and the character's motives and plot comes out, Mr. Schwartzbaugh shows us a man on the brink of losing everything. He is able to portray Mr. Manningham's fears and frustrations quite well in the final moments of the play where he finally lets go of his subdued emotions.
Jenessa Beatriux is, Bella Manningham, the pathetic victim of her gaslighting husband. This poor character is so severely manipulated by her husband, she is on the brink of losing her mind. At one point in the first act, Mr. Manningham tells his wife that if she behaves, he will take her to see a play. This fills the otherwise distraught character with joy. However, the happiness is short-lived when her husband changes his mind about taking her to the play when he accuses her of lying about a lost grocery bill. The bill, of course, is not lost but is taken and hidden by the husband to further manipulate his wife's emotional state. Ms. Beatriux plays her character with a lot of melodramatic emotion. Her character undergoes a gradual reckoning with what she has been subjected to by her husband. At the end, there is a moment of suspense when the audience is rooting for her to do something heinous a la Sweeney Todd. I will not spoil what happens, but it's played well by the actress.
Sometimes, a part comes along that is very well-suited to an actor. This is the case of Dave Ritterband playing the role of Inspector Rough. The character is a retired detective who was never able to solve one of his first murder cases. Over the years, he has not been able to let go of this failure. By chance, many years later, he catches a glimpse of the elusive killer from his past, and it leads him to the Manningham's who happen to live in the same house in which the long-ago unsolved murder occurred. Mr. Ritterband plays Inspector Rough to perfection in his mannerisms and speech. Through his portrayal, he provides some much needed laughs in this otherwise serious story. He is able to bring out the excitement this character feels as he is about to solve the mystery of his lifetime and yet keeps the excitement of this British inspector perfectly understated. For his performance tonight, I award Mr. Ritterband with a BRAVO!
The cast is rounded out with four supporting actors. Erin Wright Oglesby plays the maid Elizabeth with authenticity and establishes herself as a very good character actress. Rebecca Laird plays the maid Nancy. She brings out a manipulative quality of her own in this opportunistic character which she plays very well. The final two actors I commend for being good sports! James Thompson and Hunter Taskony open the show with walk-on parts that last only a few seconds. The two are not seen again until the very end of the show when they briefly appear as policemen. Finding actors to sit backstage for the entire show is not easy, but let me say how much you are appreciated for doing so.
The Victorian-style set was designed by Sharon Roberts and Dwight Roberts and is very pleasing to the eye. The color theme is dark red and it is perfectly suited to the dark story. A highlight of the set is the lighting that was placed throughout. Several of the "gaslights" are mounted on the walls and a chandelier is hung in the middle of the set. All of the lights on set are functional and add to the creepy quality of the show. Director Roberts uses every corner of the set very well.
Technically, the stage manager, Bettye Davis, kept the cues tight. The set was well lit by Brett William Copeland. The actors wore microphones, but I could not tell if they were necessary or not. Maybe this is a compliment to the sound tech. However, it felt like putting microphones on the actors in the black box for a non-musical was overkill and the microphones taped to the actors faces were a little distracting in this case. The show opened with a loud fog machine that seemed unnecessary. There was some music that played at random points throughout the show when scenes were building to a suspenseful climax that also seemed unnecessary and somewhat distracting to the action on stage. Costuming was done by the company and was very effective. I happened to overhear a couple of audience members commenting positively on Mrs. Beatriux's dress and how Mr. Schwartzbaugh and Mr. Ritterband wore an over abundance of coats on top of coats, although this seemed appropriate to me for 1880 London.
The show was pleasing to the audience. I must make mention that the audience was only about one-third to half full. Please come out and support community theatre and the hard work of these fine artists. They deserve it. Gaslight runs for two more performances, tonight 10/26 at 8 pm and tomorrow 10/27 at 2 pm.
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UPCOMING THEATRE EVENTS
Auditions tonight for those interested!
NEXT WEEK - Please support these original works!! Two afternoon performances only!
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