Review: Gaslight at the New Victoria

Richard Davies enjoys an evening of psychological menace in Woking. 3 STARS for Gaslight at Woking's New Victoria Theatre until January 28.

Gaslight Kara Tointon as Bella Manningham.jpg

Anyone who has renovated a Victorian house will be familiar with “gas light” - all those metal pipes embedded in the plaster and wondering what to do with them. In the revival of “Gaslight” at the Victoria Theatre Woking, the rise and fall of the wall lights signals the comings and goings of the villain in the locked upper storey of the house. Even today, being cast into gloom by an unseen, malign presence can cause a visceral reaction. Imagine how terrifying it must have been in the jittery times of pre-war London?

Gaslight was first performed in 1938 and according to the programme, the 1940 film version was considered by some critics to be the best British film of the year, despite stiff competition no doubt from “Brief Encounter” and “Old Mother Riley Joins Up”. It was written by Patrick Hamilton, author of Rope and Hangover square, who when he died of alcoholism in the 60s, was described by Doris Lessing as being “a marvelous novelist who’s grossly neglected”.

The play is about domestic abuse in upper middle class Victorian society, with an added layer of psychological menace. Kara Tointon, whose TV credits include Rosalie in Mr Selfridge and Dawn Swann in Eastenders but is perhaps best known for “winning Strictly” in 2010, has been rightly praised for her performance as the cruelly mistreated lady of the house, Bella Manningham.

She brings a touching innocence to the role and is totally believable as a woman driven to the point of madness by her bullying husband, Jack, played by Rupert Young. It is tempting to boo him pantomime style as he flirts with the servants in front of her and viciously accuses her of forgetfulness and misplacing valuables. In doing so, he exploits her psychological vulnerability to the fact that her mother died in a mental hospital and threatens her that it's time she went to see a doctor.

Every evening, Jack finds some pretext to stomp out of the house, leaving Bella to sit alone, blaming herself and doubting her own reason. Enter the character of Rough, an elderly police detective played by Keith Allen, who tells her that she is in great danger and that her husband is in fact a bigamous, murderous, criminal maniac, bent on evil ends. Because we are so used to seeing Allen in baddy roles, the Inspector’s lurid descriptions of her husband’s morbid compulsions and debauched “taste for unemployed actresses” are as menacing as they are ludicrous. He addresses her throughout as Mrs Manning-HAM and darkly revels in every over-enunciated syllable.

While Gaslight is entertaining enough, it is far from being a masterpiece and very much “of its time”. My mother-in-law and reviewing partner is of a similar vintage to the play, but I have to say is in considerably better shape. Although seated in the stalls, there were times when we both struggled to hear what some of the actors were saying. Partly this is a familiar problem of actors struggling to project their voices because they are more used to TV cameras than live theatre, but as my mother-in-law pointed out, it was also because they frequently speak with their backs to the audience. I am sure this could be easily rectified!