With a perfectly-cast leading lady and stellar supporting cast, this tense thriller showcases different forms of female strength.
Bella Manningham (an impeccable Geraldine Hakewill) is young, frail, in love and weak. The daughter of a woman carted off to an asylum for erratic behaviour, Bella relies on her kind and patient husband to comfort and protect her from the world. He is her world, and when he leaves the house – something she is incapable of doing due to debilitating fear – she sees and hears things in a house that surely must be haunted.
Based on the title alone, the audience has a good idea of what is really going on. How Bella is increasingly isolated, not only from the outside world, but also within her own home.
Kate Fitzpatrick as housekeeper Elizabeth plays the straight-woman to Bella’s increasing hysteria, providing not only essential comic relief but also a steady centre for the play’s drama. New maid Nancy, played convincingly by Courtney Cavallaro, is a welcome metaphorical slap in the face, the opposite of Bella in almost every way, and unconstrained by societal expectations of womanly etiquette.
All three female characters represent different ways of coping and fighting back when society boxes you in. The fate of unseen female characters are cautionary tales of what can happen to women who don’t know their place.
The first half of the play is taut, and swiftly paced, although the second half lets the tension slide somewhat, and the last scene undercuts Bella’s character development. Despite this, the powerful, pitch (and accent!)-perfect performance by Hakewill leaves an enduring impact on the audience, although Fitzpatrick’s Elizabeth may be the crowd favourite. Toby Schmitz’s Jack is as oily and slimy as he needs to be. The set design, sound, lighting and costume design are fantastic, and really transport the audience into the characters’ world.
'Gaslight'’s story is exactly what you expect it to be, but it is a rollercoaster of a ride.
