Gaslight/Malvern Theatres

WRITER Patrick Hamilton lifted a stone back in 1938 that revealed the more sinister side of the gender divide… and eight decades later his observations would appear to be more relevant than ever.

This gifted and complex man was quite obviously way ahead of his time when he laid bare the psychology of what we would now term the control freak male.

So often, the victims of such individuals are women, and in 2015 this sort of controlling or coercive behaviour became punishable by a possible prison sentence of up to five years.

And taking this topicality into account, it is all the more remarkable that Hamilton’s study of male dominance was premiered in an age when women were literally the property of their husbands.

Jack Manningham (Rupert Young) is the brute and bully in question who terrorises wife Bella (Kara Tointon) without mercy, day and night.

The mental cruelty to which she is subjected manifests in myriad forms – even the removal of a picture from its usual place on the piano can provoke Manningham to indulge himself doing what he does best… beating down and belittling his wife until she is overcome with self-disgust and doubts about her very sanity.

Young excels as the vile and thoroughly repulsive Manningham, while Tointon wilts before his onslaught like a cut flower left to shrivel on concrete in the noonday sun.

These were powerful performances indeed, their intensity stirring equal measures of pity for the prey and loathing for the predator.

Enter mystery man Rough (Keith Allen) who immediately upsets this particular rotten apple cart. Arriving just minutes after the hateful Manningham has left for his nightly and dubious expeditions into town, Rough claims to be a policeman investigating a 20-year-old murder and, what’s more, has reason to believe that the crime took place at the Manningham address.

Intriguingly, it’s possible that Rough may also be an avenging guardian angel from above, sent from Heaven to right a great wrong.

Here we have unmistakable echoes of the crime perennial An Inspector Calls, the notion being that the unannounced caller might in fact be some celestial agent tasked with restoring justice and mercy to an appalling earthly situation.

Rough seems to be on a crusade to not only tie up some loose ends from an earlier outrage, but also to trap an obnoxious beast that will continue his depredations unless rapidly checked.

There are strong performances too from Charlotte Blackledge as Nancy, the couple’s much-abused maid, and Helen Anderson in the role of Elizabeth, the housekeeper who says little but sees much.

Anthony Banks’ taut direction, coupled with Howard Hudson’s eerily effective lighting makes for a fast-moving drama that holds the audience’s attention from start to finish. Gaslight runs until Saturday (March 4).

John Phillpott