Gaslight

These days ‘gaslighting’ means subjecting someone, usually an intimate partner, to mind games and undermining, to exercise power and control over them. The derivation of that term lies in this play.

Towards the end of the Victorian era, in a gloomy London house, the dynamics of the relationship between Mr and Mrs Manningham are played out. Mrs Manningham appears mentally frail. Her husband reminds her this is so, as he leaves her home alone at night. The house has a dark history. Rough, a former Policeman, arrives looking for answers. Why does the gaslight flicker? Whose are the footsteps heard on the top floor? If Mrs Manningham is losing her mind, can the shocking revelation of past secrets, finally bring her peace?

This is most definitely a psychological drama. Whilst the play was first performed in 1938, the story telling, and characters could have easily found themselves between the covers of a 19th Century classic novel.

There are film versions of Gaslight dating back to 1940 and 1944. The latter is probably the more familiar – directed by George Cukor and starring Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman as Mr and Mrs Manningham. Inevitably the play was adapted for the screen.