Gaslight

Welcomed warmly into this old theatre by front of house, I was directed to my chair. Chesil is an old converted church, dating back to the Doomsday Book, the theatre is small but very intimate.

The lights dimmed and the tabs were struck to reveal a simple but effective depiction of a late Victorian living room and we found the heroine Bella stood by the window, with her husband “asleep” in the chair by the fire. The husband Jack (or is he?) is the villain of this piece and is an evil, psychological bully brilliantly and effectively (very) played by Steve Clark. His wife, Bella is a nervous down-trodden individual who, with the ongoing and relentless put downs, believes she is going mad. The part of Bella is played by Helen Grime and she gave a totally believable performance of confusion and self doubt, caught in this dark and unforgiving circumstance. It's only when Jack leaves the building and Inspector Rough arrives that the plot thickens, but the mood lightens. Richard Martin plays the inspector with great ability, and is blessed with great comic timing (well what there was of it).

The main caracters were ably assisted by Scarlett Briant as the easy to please Nancy and the motherly Rachel O’Neill as Elizabeth, the head servant (her warm northern tones played well to the sharp southern accents)

The whole thing unravels, the inspector and the heroine come out on top and Jack Manningham is carted off (no doubt to meet his maker)

The set was well lit and the lines were all delivered, crisply and with good diction (even if there were many many “Dears and My Dears”, but that’s the script) and because of that, the story (of which I was unfamiliar) was easy to follow.

Well done Michael Goron as director and to Chesil Theatre. A thoroughly good show and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Thank you

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