ICTRep’s ‘Gaslight’ creates Halloween-season tension
Last-minute cast changes don’t hamper this theatrical thriller.
ICTRep is pulling one over on us.
The Wichita theater company sent out word that the two lead performers and one supporting actor in their current production were being replaced — about 10 days before the opening.
Yet Anthony Larkin-Valdez, Chelsie Penner, and Abby Lowe are so confident, comfortable, and commanding in their roles that it seems like they had months to ponder and perfect them.
“Gaslight,” indeed.
In Steven Dietz’s 2023 adaptation of Patrick Hamilton’s 1939 psychological thriller, husband Jack (Larkin-Valdez) is both a doting and manipulative husband to Bella (Penner) in 1880s New York City.
One minute he scolds her like a bad puppy or petulant child. The next, he’s serenading her to prove his good intent. But a series of missing items and confusion, not to mention his nightly trips outside their posh mansion, make Bella question her sanity.
Larkin-Valdez is appropriately suave and slimy as the narcissistic Jack, making an ass of himself more and more as the plot unfolds. My only suggestion would be to add some gray to his hair — with the plotline, he looks a bit young for the part.
Penner puts her emotions at the forefront, figuratively asking the audience whether she is imagining all that’s happening or if it’s really occurring.
Although the scenes between the two of them are powerful, a favorite was the scene between Larkin-Valdez and Lowe, who plays suspicious and fun-loving maid Nancy. While interrogating each other, the two have a virtual tango that’s as much choreographed as it is directed.
Both advancing the plot and serving as a bit of comic relief is Linda McDonald in the “pants role” (female playing male) of Sgt. Rough. With oversized sideburns and looking somewhere between the Mad Hatter and Doctor Who, McDonald brings a Jane Lynch-esque delivery to the role, somehow making it equally lighthearted and mysterious. After all, she may be a figment of Bella’s imagination.
Diane Tinker Hurst rounds out the cast (save for two small policeman roles) as a wise older maid, a bit of a security blanket for Bella.
In his first directing role for ICTRep, James Earlywine shows solid work, orchestrating the tension and occasional bits of levity as well as undoubtedly getting his new cast members up to speed with rehearsals in overdrive.
The vintage set, designed by artistic director Julie Longhofer and managing director Stan Longhofer, is a gorgeous and palatial multilevel setting, with a rear staircase and a cutaway to the closet, showing McDonald’s Sgt. Rough in some nice silent gags. It makes good use of the former New Zion Baptist Church sanctuary at The Oliver Place in ICTRep’s final production in the space.
Stan Longhofer’s lighting design shows the titular gaslights being lit and fading, with even another beam on the third floor of the set’s house. Kirk Longhofer’s sound design adds to the drama without overpowering it, providing a bit of a soundtrack. Both combine for a perfect pre-Halloween spot on the theatrical calendar.
Julie Longhofer’s costuming is beautiful, especially Bella’s gorgeous teal skirt.
Times have changed since the original “Gaslight” play and its 1944 film version with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer. Emotional and verbal abuse is now understood to be as destructive as physical abuse. “Gaslighting” was selected as the word of the year by the American Dialect Society in 2016 and is present in our society, even if the fancy effects of 1880s NYC aren’t.
The Details
ICTRep presents “Gaslight”
October 2-11, 2006, at The Oliver Place, 2512 N. Oliver St. in Wichita
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays.
Reserved tickets are $38 for adults, $33 for seniors and veterans, $25 under 30 years old, and $15 for students.
Learn more and purchase tickets online.
David Burke is a veteran of 35 years as an arts and entertainment writer, columnist, and editor for the Decatur (Illinois) Herald & Review, the Quad-CityTimes (Iowa/Illinois), and The Wichita Eagle.
❋ Derby man has the kind of voice that turns heads — and chairs
❋ Socializing while sober: how some Wichitans are cultivating alcohol-free communities
❋ As a small creative business closes, the owner mourns
❋ Painting through it: Autumn Noire on 20 years of making art
❋ How a guy from Wichita resurrected 'Dawn of the Dead'
❋ Bygone Friends University museum housed curious collections
Support Kansas arts writing
The SHOUT is a Wichita-based independent newsroom focused on artists living and working in Kansas. We're partly supported by the generosity of our readers, and every dollar we receive goes directly into the pocket of a contributing writer, editor, or photographer. Click here to support our work with a tax-deductible donation.
