Gaslight

by Shaira Berg

17 – 20 August 2023
Etcetera Theatre

“[Arianna’s] ability to engineer moments of tension from the script was impressive enough, but their ability to keep this tension up for an extended period of timeplay was overall brilliantly directed, with a simple set and even simpler scene changes.”“Arianna Munoz’s sensitive direction and quick pace works with the emotions, accusations and betrayals in a tense drama.”



“Director Arianna Muñoz does an excellent job of creating the world in which these students live. She offers up some memorable scenes, including a party scene where you really do feel like you’re in a nightclub, a commendable effort given the space offered to her.”

Having largely directed period pieces and more fantastical works prior, Gaslight presented the exciting opportunity for me to explore contemporary theatre set in the here-and-now.

Nevertheless, in Gaslight I still saw resonance of the surreal or elevated; namely, the play revolves around an unexplained wound seeping in the chest of the protagonist, Scarlet, symbolic of the sexual assault and emotional trauma she endures. In this key element I saw parallels to the concept of magical realism, and with this in mind sought to give the play a degree of that inexplicable strangeness that so dominates the genre.

Visually, as Gaslight was staged in a black-box pub theatre, I was challenged to create a visually enticing production within limited means. A scene which took place at a party, for example, was brought to life by having Scarlet be the only figure lit on stage, standing in spotlight as her increasingly drunk friends entered and exited the light, a revolving door of encounters that mirrored the increasingly frenetic tone of the scene. 

Photos by Alessia Mavakala. 

Cast

Scarlet – Shaira Berg

Tate – George Prentice

Angela – Sarah Walton-Smith

Katie – Alessandra Rey

Simon – Misha Koshutskyy

Tutor – Melania Hamilton

Crew

Writer  – Shaira Berg

Producer  – Sarah Walton-Smith, Shaira Berg

Director, Sound/Lighting Designer  – Arianna Muñoz

Assistant Director  – Keziah Prescod

Associate Director – Alessia Mavakala

Publicity Designer  – Shaira Berg

Publicist  – Isabelle Duffy-Cross

Photographer  – Alessia Mavakala

Welfare Representative – Lily Ellis

Blood Technician – Maisie Johnson