Gaslight

The WCPA presents GASLIGHT by Patrick Hamilton – a Steampunk Melodrama Extravaganza for Halloween!

Gaslight, a “domestic thriller” set in 1880’s London, debuted in London in 1938. It came to Broadway in 1941 (as Angel Street), starring Vincent Price in the role of suave villain Jack Manningham who is, for reasons of his own, trying to drive his wife insane. She, with the help of a bluff police detective named Rough, must face up to Manningham’s efforts and thwart them before they succeed.

Gaslight was a huge hit on Broadway, running for 1,295 performances, and gave rise to two well-regarded movies of the same name in 1940 and 1944. The title also gave us the term “gaslighting” to describe the type of mental manipulation Mrs. Manningham suffers at the hands of her husband.