|
|
|
|
|
|
Production Information
Angel Street by Patrick Hamilton is billed as a Victorian Thriller. Written in 1938, the play has a more modern edge than the Victorian labeling might insinuate. The play is a psychological thriller with a melodramatic flair, set in a Victorian 19th century, but with a distinctive 20th century perspective. Angel Street is a hybrid, of sorts. Drawing on the traditions of Victorian popular theatre and the newer naturalism of the 1930's, playwright Patrick Hamilton attempted and succeeded in melding the two. It was a unique theatrical offering for its time – resulting in a hugely successful Broadway run and its subsequent making into the award winning movie "Gaslight", directed by George Cukor and starring Ingrid Bergman in an Oscar-winning performance. But more importantly, Angel Street spawned a whole new generation of stage thrillers that re-invigorated the old form and injected it with a psychologically fuelled adrenaline. The next generation of stage thrillers included such intense classics as Dial M For Murder, Wait Until Dark, The Bad Seed and even more recent offerings like Deathtrap and Voices In The Dark. These plays rely less on plot and the theatrical machinations of Victorian thrillers and more on emotionally charged interplay. Angel Street blazed the way for this revolutionary shift in stage thrillers. Angel Street gives us, however, the best of both worlds – it has that old-time feel of the Victorian thriller, yet gives us a contemporary access to the goings-on in the Manningham household. Victorian thrillers relied heavily on stage and plot devices – and Angel Street joyfully does, too. Yes, a great deal of the play revolves around its infamous gaslight! But, uncharacteristically Victorian, it raises serious issues of abuse and manipulation - thus allowing such worn devices to transform into modern and gripping theatrical metaphor.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Copyright © 2003-8 Ken Kamlet / Sparky Unleashed | All Rights Reserved | Contact |
