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| Geraldine Hakewill- Kate Fitzpatrick - Toby Schmitz in "Gaslight" |
Written by Patrick Hamilton - Adapted by Johnna Wright and Patty Jamieson
Directed by
Lee Lewis – Set and Costume Design by Renee Mulder
Lighting
Design by Paul Jackson – Original music and Sound Design by Paul Charlier
Canberra
Theatre 15th – 19th May 2024.
Performance
on 15th May reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.
By any
measure this is a beautiful production to watch. It’s immediately obvious that a
great deal of care and attention has been lavished on every aspect of its
preparation. Renee Mulder has designed a magnificent setting to represent the
Victorian mansion that Jack Mannering and his wife Bela inhabit. In fact so imposing and beautifully furnished
that at first it’s difficult to imagine why Bela would be so unhappy to live there.
Mulder’s
costumes too are beautiful, particularly Bela’s first act housecoat, in which
Geraldine Hakewill, as Bela, looks absolutely exquisite. Among her many
talents, Hakewill knows how to wear costumes and in this play she does so
magnificently.
The special
effects are impressive. Gaslights which come on individually then fade whenever
the gas level drops. Sunlight streams through the windows to signal that it’s
morning and strange noises rattle unnervingly in the attic in the evenings.
There’s unsettling music that warns of foreboding happenings.
The casting
also could hardly be more perfect. Toby Schmitz is suitable suave and handsome
as Jack Mannering. His clothes are meticulously tailored, his manners just a
little too polished, and perhaps he’s just a little too familiar around the
insolent young maid, played with flair by Courtney Cavallaro.
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| Kate Fitzpatrick and Geraldine Hakewill in "Gaselight". |
Kate
Fitzpatrick in a welcome return to the stage is suitably efficient and
circumspect as the all-seeing housekeeper. Geraldine Hakewill’s insecure Bela
confides in her, but can she be trusted? Finally there’s the mysterious Alice
Barlow, whom we never see, but whom it is revealed, was murdered in this house.
Everything
necessary for a perfect Victorian melodrama is present and by interval the
audience was completely hooked.
However on
opening night, as the second act progressed, there was a sense that the cast were
unsettled. Awkward pauses and revelations that were greeted with laughter
rather than gasps, then finally a poorly executed finale which threatened to
turn melodrama into slapstick, gave the impression that the play had been
under-rehearsed.
Perhaps it
was to do with the writing, as this is an adaptation of Paul Hamilton's original play, or perhaps it has something to do with the subject matter of coercive control which
now seems so prevalent as to make it difficult for a modern audience to accept
that Bela would not have recognised this behaviour sooner, or having realised
what was happening, as she apparently did, would have left herself so exposed.
Whatever the reason, hopefully
this can be rectified quickly so that audiences will leave the theatre fulfilled
rather than scratching their heads.
Images supplied.
This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au
