Gaslight
Sat, 11 Oct 2008, 07:49 amGordon the Optom15 posts in thread
Gaslight
Sat, 11 Oct 2008, 07:49 am‘Gaslight’ is a thriller, written 70 years ago by Patrick Hamilton. The latest production from the Old Mill Theatre in South Perth, it is showing until 25th October.
The location is the front room of a reasonably well-to-do house in London in the 1880s. The owner, Jack Manningham (Robert Whyte), is a bullying, philandering husband whom seems to get great pleasure from taunting his loving, delicate wife Bella (Mia Martin). Bella’s mother died in a madhouse ‘with little brain left’ and poor Bella is certain that she is destined for the same fate.
There are two servants, the elderly dedicated Elizabeth (Rosemary Longhurst) and young flighty, yet slightly mysterious, Nancy (Dannielle Ashton).
One evening when the master of the house is out visiting friends, Detective Rough arrives and asks to see the Mrs Manningham. Although retired, when the caring Detective Rough has a bee in his bonnet, he won’t rest until the problem has been cleared up.
Although there is one murder in the story, this is really more of a psychological thriller. The script captures the chauvinistic era well, and has the audience wondering if what is obvious is in fact true.
The curtains opened slowly (how rarely one sees a simple act like this used to effect) to gradually reveal the dimly lit room – and the smell of fresh paint, the set being finished only hours before. The décor was probably the best I have seen for a community production in many a year (Hywel Williams and Tim Prosser), so it was little wonder that there was a round of applause before even a word was spoken. The props and soft furnishing (Julie Cecchi and Tina Wilton) made the room truly lived-in! It was obvious that a great deal of thought had gone into the costumes (Jenny Prosser) which were correct for the period. The crux of the play depended upon the gas lighting, and the John Spurling’s ambience was authentic.
Director, Sally Barendse, had already shown the strength of her production team and now with a superb cast, each and everyone outstanding, the show just took off. I am sure that this talented cast, will not mind me giving a special mention of Mia as the downtrodden, demented mistress of the house.
A fairly simple story but riveting. Quality and magnificent.
Troll Defined
Wed, 15 Oct 2008, 09:00 amJust had to make comment on this one. Technically an anonymous posting is not a Troll posting. Trolls postings are postings designed to get a reaction, specifically a disruptive emotional reaction, which means a Troll could be a Guest or Registered poster. Note the bolded sections in the 'offical' definition of Trolling below. Therefore an anonymous posting which is constructive, positive and informative, is not Trolling. Just wanted to clarify that.
"Trolling is a game about identity deception, albeit one that is played without the consent of most of the players. The troll attempts to pass as a legitimate participant, sharing the group's common interests and concerns; the newsgroups members, if they are cognizant of trolls and other identity deceptions, attempt to both distinguish real from trolling postings, and upon judging a poster a troll, make the offending poster leave the group. Their success at the former depends on how well they — and the troll — understand identity cues; their success at the latter depends on whether the troll's enjoyment is sufficiently diminished or outweighed by the costs imposed by the group.
Trolls can be costly in several ways. A troll can disrupt the discussion on a newsgroup, disseminate bad advice, and damage the feeling of trust in the newsgroup community. Furthermore, in a group that has become sensitized to trolling — where the rate of deception is high — many honestly naïve questions may be quickly rejected as trollings. This can be quite off-putting to the new user who upon venturing a first posting is immediately bombarded with angry accusations. Even if the accusation is unfounded, being branded a troll is quite damaging to one's online reputation." (Donath, 1999, p. 45)"
Absit invidia (and DFT :nono:)
Jeff Watkins