June 21, 2009
Tomahawk, an Oxford based company that seeks to combine the talents of Town and Gown, have produced a thoroughly entertaining version of the Victorian thriller Gaslight. It was written in 1938 by Patrick Hamilton. He saw himself first and foremost as a novelist, but his two greatest successes were his plays: Rope (1929) gained him considerable notoriety, and was later turned into a film of the same name by Hitchcock. But Gaslight was even more successful, wowing audiences in London, running for four years on Broadway, and inspiring two films, the most notable being the Oscar winning 1944 film starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer.
But when Hamilton wrote Gaslight, he was not so much cobbling together a pastiche of Victorian gothic melodrama as using the story to write about the unpleasant psychological games that can develop inside marriage. As such, it needs to be taken and played seriously – despite the fact that the plot has its melodramatic elements, including mysterious noises in the attic and gaslights that unaccountably grow dim - and by and large Tomahawk did this. Alex Nicholls (Jack) and Susanne Sheehy (Bella) quickly establish the ground. He is patronising and controlling, she completely without confidence, but when he promises to take her to the theatre, she becomes ecstatic and we see a glimpse of their relationship as it might have been. But when he accuses her of moving a picture, and then viciously withdraws his promise, we begin to see him for what he is. “You’re mad like mother before you!” he snarls, and we know that he is playing a deadly game.
Enter, a little later, Sergeant Rough. Robert Booth has great fun in this part - perhaps occasionally too much fun – but why not? When Bella asks him what whisky tastes like, his response (“somewhere between ambrosia and methylated spirits”) raised a big laugh, as did his removal of his coat (go and see it if you want to know why!). But his role in the play is as the one who solves the mystery, and as the man who frees Bella of her entrapment. The very final scene, in which Bella confronts her husband, is a beautifully written and acted conclusion. All in all, a delightful evening, with solid performances by all the cast.
If you can’t catch it at the North Wall Theatre in Summertown, why not treat yourself to a trip to Henley’s Kenton Theatre on 24th or 25th June.
But when Hamilton wrote Gaslight, he was not so much cobbling together a pastiche of Victorian gothic melodrama as using the story to write about the unpleasant psychological games that can develop inside marriage. As such, it needs to be taken and played seriously – despite the fact that the plot has its melodramatic elements, including mysterious noises in the attic and gaslights that unaccountably grow dim - and by and large Tomahawk did this. Alex Nicholls (Jack) and Susanne Sheehy (Bella) quickly establish the ground. He is patronising and controlling, she completely without confidence, but when he promises to take her to the theatre, she becomes ecstatic and we see a glimpse of their relationship as it might have been. But when he accuses her of moving a picture, and then viciously withdraws his promise, we begin to see him for what he is. “You’re mad like mother before you!” he snarls, and we know that he is playing a deadly game.
Enter, a little later, Sergeant Rough. Robert Booth has great fun in this part - perhaps occasionally too much fun – but why not? When Bella asks him what whisky tastes like, his response (“somewhere between ambrosia and methylated spirits”) raised a big laugh, as did his removal of his coat (go and see it if you want to know why!). But his role in the play is as the one who solves the mystery, and as the man who frees Bella of her entrapment. The very final scene, in which Bella confronts her husband, is a beautifully written and acted conclusion. All in all, a delightful evening, with solid performances by all the cast.
If you can’t catch it at the North Wall Theatre in Summertown, why not treat yourself to a trip to Henley’s Kenton Theatre on 24th or 25th June.