Gaslighting—the act of psychologically manipulating someone to make them question their sanity. It’s a term that became popular in the turn of the century when Sigmund Freud’s theories were captivating the masses.
But Freud didn’t coin the term—that honor goes to the 1938 Victorian play Gaslight. Western Michigan University Theatre will stage the play Friday through February 15th.
It’s about a woman named Bella Manningham who suspects her husband, Jack, is up to something. To keep her under his thumb, Jack convinces Bella she is going mad.
David Allen George is guest directing the play. He’s the theatre coordinator at Salem State University in Massachusetts. George went to grad school with former WMUTheatre director D. Terry Williams and has lived in Massachusetts since he founded the theatre department almost 40 years ago.
Though the set is decorated with Victorian style antiques, George says he’s taken Gaslight beyond the realm of a period play.
“This is much more brutal. I have become much more realistic in style and treatment of characters. A lot more innuendo and a great more subtext," he says. "I’ve gone deeper and I think that the audience will be more inclined to not look at it as an antique museum piece, but something that’s happening today.”
George says this kind of abuse is happening today—some of his family members have had personal experience with it.
“The only difference now for me is that you’re not wearing a corset and you’re not trying to practice Victorian style elements so people don’t see. It’s now a question of they don’t see because you keep it right in your house. What’s happening behind their closed doors? Why are those people so peculiar? Why is that poor woman keeping her head down all the time? Why won’t my neighbor man talk to me? And I think it’s just a question now for me particularly of going ‘Well, it’s not old. It’s new again and it’s still ugly.’”
Sarah Rice plays the role of Bella Manningham. She says Bella thinks her husband loves her and that if she works hard enough, their relationship can go back to the way it used to be.
"I genuinely believe that I am making mistakes and that I need to be sorry for them," Rice says as Bella. "And I think that the relationship as a whole is hanging on by a few threads, but it’s still salvageable.”
Gaslight is certainly more than a Victorian drama, but there is a lot to look at on set.
“It is a real corset, yes, and it is actually fit to the exact time period by the decade," says Rice. "Our costumers are incredible. That’s one thing—people need to come just to see my costume.”
Fortunately Bella has a few people on her side—including a detective named Ruff who becomes interested in Bella’s situation when she and Jack move in to a home where a brutal murder took place.
Unlike some versions of the play, the music in WMU’sGaslight—composed by Salem State’s Ryan Blaney—is exceptionally creepy. Regular theatre-goers might also notice a change in the ending.
“I hope that it surprises and really frustrates them,” says David Allen George of the audience. “Because that’s where I’d like to leave them. Do we really have an answer at the end of this play or are we going to continue to see this go on?”
