With an outstanding performance by Jaxon Duff Gwillim as Jack Manningham, Gaslight brings comedy and a bit of thriller to the stage.
Jack and Bella Manningham (Tania Getty) live in London. The year is 1880. They have two servants, Nancy (Miranda Wynne) and Elizabeth (Rita Obermeyer). Jack flirts with Nancy as a plan to drive Bella insane and get her money. Additionally, Jack is also trying to find the jewels from Alice Barlow, a wealthy lady who lived in the apartment above and was murdered years ago. The murderer was never found.
Jack disappears at night without telling Bella where he’s going. Mysteriously, Bella hears steps in the apartment above, which is now unoccupied. The gaslight also dims minutes after Jack leaves the house and brightens right before he comes back. All of that and Jack’s constant belittlement are taking its toll on Bella to the point of making her feel as though she’s losing her mind. Jack’s plan is working…if he could only find those damn jewels. Meanwhile, Bella receives the visit of detective Rough (Stuart W. Howard), who worked on the case of the lady murdered in the apartment above.
The play as a whole works fine, but the thriller aspect seems to be missing in Act One and Act Two Scene 1. It shows pretty much in Act Two Scene 2, when Jack returns home, notices his desk drawers have been forced open, and faces Bella to reveal his true self. It is in this scene that Gwillim brings out convincingly the violent and dangerous side of his character. The thriller element then fills the stage and Jack’s aggressive outburst puts Bella in a vulnerable position that makes for great suspenseful action. It is at this point that Director Michael Rothhaar puts all the elements together to capture the darker tone of the play. The characters become alive and thrive in the face of danger.
The lighting by Michael Franco is clever and cast an amber tone to match the dramatic themes of the play. The same goes for the scenic design and the costumes by Taubert Nadalini and Shon LeBlanc respectively.
The audience keeps reacting positively to the staging of this play that originated the term gaslighting, so widely used in the romantic—or not so romantically—relationships nowadays. The play combines comedy and thriller, which might be the clue to the continuous production, including podcasting, of this play. It was written in 1938 by a playwright whose life was marked by tragedy: a disfigured face due to a car accident and the death of his mother by suicide. As usual, from a place of pain, artists create great works of art.
Gaslight
Pacific Resident Theatre
705 1/2 Venice Blvd.
Venice, CA 90291
Opening: June 21, 2025
8pm Thursdays – Saturdays; 3pm Sundays
(no performances July 17–25; 3pm matinees added on August 2, and 5)
Closing: August 10, 2025
Tickets: pacificresidenttheatre.org
Playwright: Patrick Hamilton
Director: Michael Rothhaar
Executive Producer: Marilyn Fox
Presented by Pacific Resident Theatre
Cast: Tania Getty as Mrs. Manningham, Jaxon Duff Gwillim as Mr. Manningham, Stuart W. Howard as Rough, Rita Obermeyer as Elizabeth, and Miranda Wynne as Nancy.
Creative team: Taubert Nadalini (Scenic Design), Michael Franco (Lighting Design), Claire German (Sound Design), Shon LeBlanc (Costume Design), Cybelle Kachler (Stage Manager).
