TotalTheater.com review of Angel Street (Gaslight): “one cannot think of a better time in the theater than seeing this production.”
June 18, 2026
Jason Will and Lily Lourigan Photo: Melinda Rhodebeck
Regional – River Hills, WI: Acacia Theater Company – Norvell Commons at St. Christopher’s Church: 7845 North River Road.
June 12-28, 2026.
Drama.
Author: Patrick Hamilton.
Director: Josh Scheibe.
Critic: Anne Siegel (June 2026).
***
Film buffs and audiences of a certain age will recall the 1944 hit film Gaslight, which earned a Best Actress Academy Award for Ingrid Bergman in addition to a handful of Academy Award nominations. Also starring in the film, which was directed by George Cukor (My Fair Lady, A Star Is Born), include then-notable actors Charles Boyer, Joseph Cotton and Angela Lansbury (in her film debut).
The film was taken from a 1940 stage adaptation of Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 play, Gas Light. Although many iterations of the original script survive, the central drama remains the same in all of them. A husband tries to convince his wife that she’s going insane, in order to distract her from his immoral and criminal activities. The husband, Mr. Manningham, manipulates her reality bit by bit until the woman begins to question her own sanity. The play’s title comes from a frequent and unusual dimming of the home’s gas lighting in this 1890s drama.
Milwaukee’s Acacia Theatre Company closes its 2025-26 season with a variation of this story, titled Angel Street (Gaslight). Under Josh Scheibe’s excellent direction, each facet of this mystery unfolds with near-perfect timing.
Although the play’s main character is Mrs. (Bella) Manningham (Lily Lourigan), much of the audience’s attention is drawn to her husband (Jason Will), who plays the puppeteer in this two-hour drama (with one intermission). The entire play takes place in the Manningham’s living room.
As Mr. Manningham, Will’s booming voice can easily command the characters around him. In addition to his wife, these include two maids: Nancy (Alexandria Eggert) and Elizabeth (Reva Fox). Near the end of the play, the younger maid reveals her attraction to her handsome employer. It is no wonder that she becomes a pawn in Mr. Manningham’s efforts to confuse and mystify his wife.
Bella Manningham (Lourigan) conveys her character’s creeping sense of dread throughout the play, fueling the suspense. She is timid and childlike, and can be easily manipulated by her seemingly kind husband. Once, he dangles an invitation to a play, which delights Bella. However, he revokes the invitation a few minutes later, under the pretense of “protecting” her sanity from outside forces. In general, he forbids Bella from roaming freely outside their home.
The late arrival of a police detective (Joe Dolan) explains the motivation for Mr. Manningham’s efforts in regards to his wife. It is a rather convoluted story and one that won’t be unraveled here (no spoilers). Rough, the detective, fills in some details about a mysterious murder that occurred in the same house more than a decade earlier. As he reveals some of this backstory to Mrs. Manningham, she grows increasingly worried and afraid for her life. The initial scene between Rough and Mrs. Manningham is played so convincingly that the audience is basically riveted to the action. For those who love murder mysteries, one cannot think of a better time in the theater than seeing this production.
Regular Acacia audiences will enjoy watching some of their favorite actors. This includes Will, a familiar presence in many Acacia shows, but also Joe Dolan, Lily Lourigan, Reva Fox and Alexandria Eggert. All deliver excellent performances, although the actors playing the two maids are constrained by displaying the “proper” deference expected of the Manningham’s employees. When one of them (Nancy) finally reveals the reason for her occasionally “saucy” behavior in the household, one begins to sense the conspiracy swirling around Mrs. Manningham.
As pointed out in program notes by director Josh Scheibe, the term “gaslighting” has re-entered modern language in the past few years. This term is now applied to the efforts of internet scammers and catfish schemers, as well as those who create fake AI images. Every day, these unseen thieves convince hapless victims to open their wallets and bank accounts, in order to profit from their victim’s distorted sense of reality. This “gaslighting” behavior is done on such a massive scale that it makes the original story seem like a small “blip” in comparison.
See the review page here.
Jason Will and Lily Lourigan Photo: Melinda Rhodebeck