A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE
Deceived
Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 1m
By Johnna Wright and Patty Jamieson
Adapted from Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton
This crackling new adaptation of Patrick Hamilton’s Gaslight, streamlined to a cast of just four actors, reframes the story to strengthen and empower the central character of Bella; in this version of the classic suspense thriller, the audience wonders, “Can Bella find the strength to save herself?”
-
Cast Size
3w, 1m -
Duration
More than 120 minutes (2 hours) -
Subgenre
Mystery/Thriller -
Suggested Use
- Monologues
-
Target Audience
Adult
Details
Summary
Bella Manningham thinks she’s losing her mind. In the evenings, she hears strange sounds and the gaslights dim for no apparent reason. But is she losing her grip on reason, or is it being loosened for her? Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 play gave us the word we now use for an insidious form of mental abuse. This new adaptation from Johnna Wright and Patty Jamieson is a gripping thriller: Will the gaslight have its intended, murderous, effect?
From the authors’ introduction to the play:
“In Angel Street, a police inspector explains the mystery to [Bella] while she reacts with surprise and dismay. Bella does a lot of listening in the play, but doesn’t have the opportunity to take much action… Our version starts off much the same as the original. But part way through something changes, something that puts Bella at the heart of a story many of us are living right now, in one way or another. No spoilers here, but in this version there is no police inspector. No one is coming to save Bella. The question is, can she find the strength to save herself?” – Johnna Wright & Patty Jamieson, 2022
History
Cast Attributes
Keywords
Performing Groups
- Time Period 1900-1910
- Setting The sitting room of a middle-class house in a square in London, 1901.
- Features Period Costumes
- Duration More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
- Cautions
- Alcohol
- Mild Adult Themes
Media
“Skilled and suspenseful… a smart and satisfying update.” – The Toronto Star
“Nobody is coming to rescue Bella Manningham. And that’s a good thing… The result is a total overhaul, complete with a nifty Act I curtain that forces audiences to spill into the lobby, sputtering, ‘What should she do now?’” – The New York Times
“Skilled and suspenseful… a very satisfying piece of theatrical reinvention… Wright and Jamieson have cut the character of Rough and made the central action of the play Bella’s journey towards empowerment and enlightenment, aided by Elizabeth. The innovation also comes through in the elegance of the writing, which becomes a constant, subtle cut-and-thrust rather than Hamilton’s pattern of question and response… bring a smart friend to this show to share the fun afterwards of combing through what happened, picking up cues and evidence in retrospect.” – The Toronto Star
“[A] great new adaptation… a Victorian thriller melded with a dash of 21st-century female fortitude… [Wright and Jamieson] have masterfully developed a novel twist in which Bella is no damsel in distress, but rather cunning, [using] her inherent wits and the help of Elizabeth to save herself from unraveling. The story actually bends beautifully as the audience is rooting for Bella by the end instead of feeling sorry for her supposed sad plight.” – Broadway World
“A beautifully polished work that keeps audiences guessing… [it] is that rare theatrical show, a thriller that really does keep its audience gripped from beginning to end.” – Megaphone Oz
“Has pretty much everything: drama, noir, pretty mis-en-scene and dark undertones. Very much ahead of its time.” – Cream Magazine, Australia
Videos
Director Kelli Shaw discusses Deceived at the Shaw Festival
-
Director Lee Lewis discusses Deceived
-
Co-authors Johnna Wright and Patty Jamieson discuss Deceived
-
Deceived – Australian Tour Trailer
Licensing & Materials
- Minimum Fee: £55 per performance plus VAT when applicable.
Authors
Johnna Wright
Johnna Wright has always been drawn to theatre for the chance to tell a story that moves and connects people, both to each other and to the storytellers. The daughter of director John Wright and novelist L.R. “Bunny” Wright, she grew up and began her career in Western Canada. ...
Patty Jamieson
Patty Jamieson’s career as an actor/singer/dancer/musician and teacher has taken her to theatres across Canada, the U.S. and Germany. Notably, she has been a member of the Acting Ensemble at the Shaw Festival, Canada’s second largest repertory theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, ...
Patrick Hamilton
Patrick Hamilton (1904-1962) was born in Hassocks, Sussex in 1904. He and his parents moved a short while later to Hove, where he spent his early years. He published his first novel, Craven House, in 1926 and within a few years had established a wide readership for himself.
De ...