''Gas Light'' is a 1938 thriller play, set in the Victorian era, written by the British novelist and playwright Patrick Hamilton. Hamilton's play is a dark tale of a marriage based on deceit and trickery, and a husband committed to driving his wife insane in order to steal from her.
''Gas Light'' was written during a dark period in Hamilton's life. Six years prior to the play Hamilton was hit by a drunk driver and dragged through the streets of London, leaving him with a limp, a paralyzed arm, and a disfigured face. Two years later, Hamilton's mother committed suicide.
Premiering at the
Richmond Theatre
The present Richmond Theatre, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is a British Victorian era, Victorian theatre located on Little Green, adjacent to Richmond Green. It opened on 18 September 1899 with a performance of ''As You Like ...
in London on 5 December 1938 before transferring to the
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.
in the West End on 1 January, the play closed after six months and 141 performances, but it has endured through an impressive list of incarnations most notably ''Five Chelsea Lane'' (1941 American play), ''Angel Street'' (1941 American play), and ''
Gaslight
Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directly ...
'' (1958 Australian television play). ''Angel Street'' was a hit in its Broadway premiere, and it remains one of the longest-running non-musicals in Broadway history, with 1,295 total performances. philadelphiaweekly.com
The play was adapted to the big screen as two films, both entitled ''Gaslight''—a Gaslight (1940 film), 1940 British film, and a 1944 American film directed by George Cukor, also known as ''The Murder in Thornton Square'' in the UK. Both films are considered classics in their respective countries of origin, and are generally equally critically acclaimed. The 1944 American version received seven nominations at the
17th Academy Awards
The 17th Academy Awards were held on March 15, 1945 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, honoring the films of 1944. This was the first time the complete awards ceremony was broadcast nationally, on the Blue Network ( ABC Radio). Bob Hope hosted the 7 ...
, including
Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
, and won two,
Best Actress
Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...
(for Ingrid Bergman) and Best Production Design. In 2019, the film was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...
by the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Synopsis
The play is set in fog-bound London in 1880, at the
upper middle class
In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term ''lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class strat ...
home of Jack Manningham and his wife Bella. It is late afternoon, a time that Hamilton notes as the time "before the feeble dawn of
gaslight
Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directly ...
and tea."
Bella is clearly on edge, and the stern reproaches of her overbearing husband (who flirts with the servants in front of his wife) make matters worse. What most perturbs Bella is Jack's unexplained disappearances from the house: he will not tell her where he is going, and this increases her anxiety. It becomes clear that Jack is intent on convincing Bella that she is going insane, even to the point of assuring her she is imagining that the gas light in the house is dimming.
The appearance of a police detective called Rough leads Bella to realise that Jack is responsible for her torment. Rough explains that the apartment above was once occupied by one Alice Barlow, a wealthy woman who was murdered for her jewels. The murderer was never found.
Jack goes to the flat each night to search for the jewels, and lighting the apartment's gas lights causes the lights to dim in the rest of the building. His footsteps in the supposedly empty apartment persuade Bella that she is "hearing things". Rough convinces Bella to assist him in exposing Jack as the murderer, which she does, but not before she takes revenge on Jack by pretending to help him escape. At the last minute she reminds him that, having gone insane, she is not accountable for her actions. The play closes with Jack being led away by the police.
Productions
London
''Gas Light'' premiered on 5 December 1938 at the
Richmond Theatre
The present Richmond Theatre, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is a British Victorian era, Victorian theatre located on Little Green, adjacent to Richmond Green. It opened on 18 September 1899 with a performance of ''As You Like ...
in
Richmond, London
Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commiss ...
. It transferred to the
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.
on 1 January 1939, and to the
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pala ...
on 22 May 1939. The cast featured
Dennis Arundell
Dennis Drew Arundell OBE (22 July 1898 in Finchley, London – 10 December 1988 in Camden, London
(Mr. Manningham),
Milton Rosmer
Milton Rosmer (4 November 1881 – 7 December 1971) was a British actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern ...
(Mr. Rough),
Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies
Dame Gwen Lucy Ffrangcon-Davies, (25 January 1891 – 27 January 1992) was a British actress and centenarian.
Early life
She was born in London of a Welsh family; the name "Ffrangcon" is said to originate from a valley in Snowdonia. Her pare ...
(Mrs. Manningham), Beatrice Rowe (Elizabeth) and
Elizabeth Inglis
Elizabeth Inglis (born Desiree Mary Lucy Hawkins, July 10, 1913 – August 25, 2007), also known as Elizabeth Earl, was an English actress, known for her role in '' The Letter''.
Early life
Inglis was born Desiree Mary Lucy Hawkins in Colchester ...
(Nancy). The production closed 10 June 1939, after a total of 141 performances.
Broadway
In the spring of 1941,
Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...
and his wife, actress
Edith Barrett
Edith Barrett (born Edith Barrett Williams; January 19, 1907 – February 22, 1977) was an American actress. She was a romantic star on Broadway and in the Little Theatre Movement in New England summer stock from the mid-1920s to the late 1930s ...
, saw ''Gas Light'' performed in Los Angeles as a three-hander titled ''Five Chelsea Lane''. They were impressed by the play and set about securing the rights for a Broadway production of their own. By fall, they had found a producer to underwrite the project, but Barrett abruptly withdrew to remain in Hollywood and work in films. In November 1941, Price returned to work on the New York stage.
Judith Evelyn
Judith Evelyn (born Evelyn Morris, March 20, 1909 – May 7, 1967) was an American-Canadian stage and film actress who appeared in around 50 films and television series.
Early years
Evelyn was born Evelyn Morris
''Angel Street'' premiered on Broadway at the
John Golden Theatre
The John Golden Theatre, formerly the Theatre Masque and Masque Theater, is a Broadway theater at 252 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the Golden Theatre was de ...
on 5 December 1941, produced and directed by Shepard Traube. The cast featured
Leo G. Carroll
Leo Gratten Carroll (25 October 1886 – 16 October 1972) was an English actor. In a career of more than forty years, he appeared in six Hitchcock films including ''Spellbound'', '' Strangers on a Train'' and ''North by Northwest'' and in thre ...
(Rough), Florence Edney (Elizabeth), Elizabeth Eustis (Nancy),
Judith Evelyn
Judith Evelyn (born Evelyn Morris, March 20, 1909 – May 7, 1967) was an American-Canadian stage and film actress who appeared in around 50 films and television series.
Early years
Evelyn was born Evelyn MorrisVincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...
(Mr. Manningham). Price left the play after a year, when his working relationship with Evelyn deteriorated into what she later described as "violent dislike". In December 1942, John Emery assumed the role of Mr. Manningham.
In a long profile headlined “The Triumph of Traube,“ published on 14 March 1943, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' described some of the challenges faced by the production, including the untimely opening date, two days before
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
: “On Dec. 5 the play opened, on Dec. 6 the rave reviews had sent a long line of pilgrims to the theatre box office, on Dec. 7 the play was forgotten under the impact of the Japanese attack. ''Angel Street'' wabbled momentarily then picked up its stride, which has hardly slackened since.” The play transferred to the Bijou Theatre on 2 October 1944, and closed on 30 December 1944, after 1,295 performances.
On tour
On 19 December 1941, ''The New York Times'' announced that Traube had cancelled a trip to the West Coast in order to form a touring company for ''Angel Street''. The tour was to begin in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
in February, with stops including
Washington, D.C
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
.;
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
; and
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, Illinois.
On Sunday, 15 March 1942, the touring company of ''Angel Street'' opened in Chicago to rave reviews. ''The New York Times'' reported an observation by Chicago criti Robert Pollak that "Not since '' Hellzapoppin'' had the crowd out front participated so heartily".
New York City Center
New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama,. The name "City Center for Music and Drama Inc." is the organizational parent of the New York City Ballet and, until 2011, the New York City Opera. and th ...
from 22 January 1948 to 1 February 1948 for 14 performances. Directed by
Richard Barr
Richard David Barr (September 6, 1917 – January 9, 1989) was an American theater director and producer. He served as the president of the League of American Theatres and Producers from 1967 until his death.
Biography
Richard David Barr was bor ...
, the cast featured
José Ferrer
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1912 – January 26, 1992) was a Puerto Rican actor and director of stage, film and television. He was one of the most celebrated and esteemed Hispanic American actors during his lifetime, w ...
(Mr. Manningham),
Uta Hagen
Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee, who called her "a p ...
(Mrs. Manningham), Phyllis Hill (Nancy), Nan McFarland (Elizabeth), Ralph Roberts (Policeman), Victor Thorley (Policeman) and
Richard Whorf
Richard Whorf (June 4, 1906 – December 14, 1966) was an American actor, writer and film director.
Life and acting career
Whorf was born in Winthrop, Massachusetts to Harry and Sarah (née Lee) Whorf. His older brother was linguist Benjamin Le ...
(Rough).
On 19 August 1952, ''The New York Times'' announced that a new off-Broadway group, Hamilton-Bruder Productions (a partnership of Patrick Hamilton and Janet Bruders), was opening with a revival of ''Angel Street.''
The play was revived on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre, opening on 26 December 1975 and closing on 8 February 1976 after 52 performances and 4 previews. Also directed by Shepard Traube, the cast featured
Michael Allinson
Michael Allinson (30 December 1920 – 30 December 2010) was a British-American stage and film actor.
Biography
John Michael Allinson was born on 30 December 1920 in London, the son of British painter and sculptor Adrian Allinson, founding membe ...
(Mr. Manningham),
Dina Merrill
Dina Merrill (born Nedenia Marjorie Hutton; December 29, 1923 – May 22, 2017) was an American actress, heiress, socialite, businesswoman, and philanthropist.
Early life
Merrill was born in New York City on December 29, 1923, but for man ...
(Mrs. Manningham),
Christine Andreas
Christine Andreas (born October 1, 1951) is an American Broadway actress and singer.
Biography
Andreas was born in Camden, New Jersey, to James Francis Andreas, a systems analyst, and Teresa Cecilia Genovese Andreas. She graduated from Suffe ...
(Nancy), Bette Henritze (Elizabeth) and Robert E. Thompson (Rough).
Dulaang UP produced the play's Philippine premiere in February 2005, with an English version and a Filipino translation.
The play was produced at
The Old Vic
The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit organization, not-for-profit producing house, producing theatre in Waterloo, London, Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Th ...
, London in June 2007 under the title of ''Gaslight''. Directed by Peter Gill, the cast featured
Andrew Woodall
''The Sugar Syndrome'' is a 2003 play written by British writer Lucy Prebble. It has won several awards and as of 2009 has been sold in seven languages.
Synopsis
The play has four main characters: Dani, Tim, Lewis and Jan. At the beginning, Da ...
as Mr. Manningham,
Rosamund Pike
Rosamund Mary Ellen Pike (born 1979) is a British actress. She began her acting career by appearing in stage productions such as ''Romeo and Juliet'' and ''Gas Light''. After her screen debut in the television film ''A Rather English Marriage'' ...
as Mrs. Manningham and
Kenneth Cranham
Kenneth Cranham (born 12 December 1944) is a Scottish film, television, radio and stage actor.
Early life
Cranham was born in Dunfermline, Fife, the son of Lochgelly-born Margaret McKay Cranham (née Ferguson) and Ronald Cranham, a London-born ...
as Rough.
The
Irish Repertory Theatre
The Irish Repertory Theatre is an Off Broadway theatre founded in 1988.
History
The Irish Repertory Theatre was founded by Ciarán O'Reilly and Charlotte Moore, which opened its doors in September 1988,http://www.nyc-arts.org/organizations/ ...
produced the play
Off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
(as ''Gaslight'') running from 17 May 2007 to 8 July 2007. The production was directed by Charlotte Moore and the cast featured
David Staller
David Staller (born November 16, 1955) is an American theatre director and actor. He is the founding artistic director of the Off-Broadway theatre company, Gingold Theatrical Group.
Early life
Staller was born in Glencoe, Illinois. He attende ...
(Mr. Manningham), Laura Odeh (Mrs. Manningham), Laoisa Sexton (Nancy), Patricia O'Connell (Elizabeth), April Ann Klein (Police Officer) and Brian Murray (Rough). Murray was nominated for a
Lucille Lortel Award
The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatre ...
as Outstanding Featured Actor. Staller was nominated for the Drama League's Distinguished Performance Award, and the production was nominated for the League's Distinguished Revival of a Play.
In 2014, the Sandyford Little Theatre Company produced ''Gaslight: a Radio Play for Stage'', an onstage
radio play
Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...
with seven actors playing 24 roles.
In 2015, Myriad Theatre & Film produced ''Gaslight'' at
Ingatestone Hall
Ingatestone Hall is a Grade I listed 16th-century manor house in Essex, England. It is located outside the village of Ingatestone, approximately south west of Chelmsford and north east of London. The house was built by Sir William Petre, and ...
in Essex.
In October 2016, the Lantern Theatre in Sheffield, England produced ''Gaslight''.
In 2019,
Perth Theatre
Perth Theatre at 185 High Street (no longer its registered address) Perth, Scotland, opened in 1900 and was extended in the 1980s.
The building is category B listed by Historic Scotland, and is operated by the charitable organisation Horsecro ...
staged a production of "Gaslight" as part of their Winter/Spring season.
In 2022, the
Shaw Festival
The Shaw Festival is a not-for-profit theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is the second largest repertory theatre company in North America. The Shaw Festival was founded in 1962. Originally, it only featured production ...
, the second-largest repertory theatre company in North America, staged a production of ''Gaslight''.
Reception
''Angel Street'' was a hit in its Broadway premiere, and it remains one of the longest-running non-musicals in Broadway history, with 1,295 total performances.
It remains a perennial favourite with both
repertory
A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation.
United Kingdom
Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...
and amateur theatre companies.
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' critic
Brooks Atkinson
Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theatre critic. He worked for ''The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of his ...
opens his 6 December 1941 review with this observation: “Although Patrick Hamilton writes his thrillers within a small compass, he writes them with infinite craft and dexterity. ''Angel Street'', which sent a chill up the spine of the Golden Theatre last evening, comes off the top part of the theatre's top shelf.” Atkinson praises Straube for matching “Hamilton’s skill in a tingling performance that fills the theater with an ominous and terrifying illusion” and commends all the actors, observing that Leo G. Carroll had his best role in years.
In his review of the 1948 City Center production,
Louis Kronenberger
Louis Kronenberger (December 9, 1904April 30, 1980) was an American literary critic (longest with ''Time'', (1938-1961), novelist, and biographer who wrote extensively on drama and the 18th century.
Background
Kronenberger was born in Cincinnat ...
wrote: "(It) remains one of the better thrillers ... let's call it one of the best. All the same, though it holds up nicely for three acts, it seems to me outstandingly good for only one."Kronenberger, Louis "Victorian Villainy at the City Center" fultonhistory.com, 25 January 1948
Reviewing Traube's 1975 Broadway revival,
Clive Barnes
Clive Alexander Barnes (13 May 1927 – 19 November 2008) was an English writer and critic. From 1965 to 1977, he was the dance and theater critic for ''The New York Times'', and, from 1978 until his death, ''The New York Post.'' Barnes had sign ...
asked: “Whatever happened to the good, old‐fashioned melodrama? It probably drifted over to television and died. Just about 35 years ago...Patrick Hamilton's English thriller, ''Angel Street'', opened on Broadway with resounding success. It was directed and produced by Shepard Traube. Last night, at the Lyceum Theater, Mr. Traube attempted an encore. It was not called for... The trouble with this play is not the trouble with this particular play—it is the trouble with this play as a particular. The theater cannot afford the luxury anymore of wilting heroines, villains making out as if they were Vincent Price (35 years ago it was Vincent Price!) or detectives detecting with the solidity of a basset hound... Nothing is quite clever enough in ''Angel Street'', and the atmosphere is so rarefied that the play is artistically in dire need of oxygen.”
On 24 May 2007, in her review of the Irish Repertory Theatre revival, ''The New York Times''
Ginia Bellafante
Ginia Bellafante (born March 31, 1965) is an American critic and columnist for ''The New York Times''.
Career
Bellafante worked at ''Time'', as a senior reporter covering fashion, until 1999. She then joined ''The New York Times'' as a fashio ...
observed that ''Gaslight'' "established the blueprint for a kind of domestic-peril thriller... Every time an actress..portrays the sort of wife who discovers that the greatest threat to her mental and physical safety is the man sitting in her breakfast nook, Mr. Hamilton’s estate ought to receive some type of remuneration....David Staller plays this undesirable husband as a man whose lust exempts nothing. Every time he appears onstage, you think: keep this person away from my babysitter and Rolex. Mr. Staller's rogue posture modulates his character's cruelty, leavening the play's potentially stifling mood. Mr. Hamilton believed our most dangerous enemies were always in the room with us ..., and his work can feel claustrophobic. Ms. Moore is aware of this, providing the proper ventilation to clear much of the Victorian must. Brian Murray, playing the detective who uncovers Manningham's plan, is her greatest asset in this regard. He appears onstage with the red cheeks of a Santa Claus, an ageing imp who hides out in nooks and corners, showing a benevolent sarcasm that teases Bella out of her dimwitted complacency".
Adaptations
Film
* The 1940 British film ''
Gaslight
Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directly ...
'', directed by
Thorold Dickinson
Thorold Barron Dickinson (16 November 1903 – 14 April 1984) was a British film director, screenwriter, film editor, film producer, and Britain's first university professor of film. Dickinson's work received much praise, with fellow directo ...
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head of ...
. It was released in Britain as ''The Murder in Thornton Square'' in order to avoid confusion with the earlier film.
Television
* The cast of the original London production recreated their stage roles for a 1939 television presentation directed by Lanham Titchener and performed live on
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...
.
* On 20 January 1946,
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
broadcast the complete play. The following Sunday, a long piece by ''New York Times'' critic
Jack Gould
John Ludlow Gould (February 5, 1914 – May 24, 1993) was an American journalist and critic, who wrote commentary about television.
Early life and education
Gould was born in New York City into a socially prominent family and attended the Loomis ...
examined the production and its implications for the future of television.
* A version was produced for Australian television in 1958.
* Polish television aired a live stage play on 28 September 1961, under the Polish title ''Gasnący płomień''. This was a part of its ongoing series of televised stage plays under the name ''Cobra Theater'' (Kobra – Teatr Sensacji). It is the oldest episode of the ''Cobra Theatre'' series that is known to have survived in its entirety on tape.
Radio
The story was dramatized as a half-hour radio play on the 3 February 1947 broadcast of ''
The Screen Guild Theater
''The Screen Guild Theater'' is a radio anthology series broadcast from 1939 until 1952 during the Golden Age of Radio. Leading Hollywood stars performed adaptations of popular motion pictures. Originating on CBS Radio, it aired under several dif ...
'', starring
Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer (; 28 August 1899 – 26 August 1978) was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American fi ...
and
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward (born Edythe Marrenner; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American film actress, best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories.
After working as a fashion model for the Walter Thornton Model A ...
. A 1946 one-hour radio production on ''
Lux Radio Theatre
''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...
'' featured Charles Boyer and
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films, television movies, and plays.Obituary ''Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, she is often ...
, stars of the 1944 film adaptation. A 2019
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
adaptation starred
Chloë Grace Moretz
Chloë Grace Moretz (; born February 10, 1997) is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including four MTV Movie & TV Awards, two People's Choice Awards, two Saturn Awards, and two Young Artist Awards.
She began actin ...
, though it was set in the modern day, and the plot was significantly modernized. It was sponsored by
Talkspace
Talkspace is an online and mobile therapy company based in New York City. It was founded by Oren and Roni Frank in 2012. Talkspace users have access to licensed therapists through the website or mobile app on iOS and Android. Talkspace has made q ...
.
Stage
In 2022, Canada's
Shaw Festival
The Shaw Festival is a not-for-profit theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is the second largest repertory theatre company in North America. The Shaw Festival was founded in 1962. Originally, it only featured production ...
premiered a feminist adaptation of the play penned by Johnna Wright and Patty Jamieson. The production, directed by Kelli Fox, starred Julie Lumsden as Bella and André Morin as Jack.
Denominalization of the play's title
In 1965, twenty-eight years after the stageplay was written, writers began denominalizing the film's title and using it as a verb, "gaslighting".
Gaslighting
Gaslighting is a colloquialism, loosely defined as manipulating someone so as to make them question their own reality. The term derives from the title of the 1944 American film ''Gaslight'', which was based on the 1938 British theatre play ''Gas ...
, in this context, is a colloquialism that loosely means to manipulate a person or a group of people in a way similar to the way the
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
in the play (Bella) was manipulated.
The term "gaslighting" does not appear in any of the stageplays or screenplays and is inspired by the film's title "Gaslight".