"Gaslight" by Patrick Hamilton.

Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

Hamilton's play is a dark tale of a marriage based on deceit and trickery, and a husband committed to driving his wife insane in order to steal from her. Written in 1938, it's got a lovely Gothic thriller feel about the production.

The action is set in Jack Manningham and his wife, Bella's house. Bella is clearly on edge, and the way that her overbearing husband speaks and treats her just make matters worse. What most upsets Bella is her husband's unexplained disappearances from the house; he won't tell her where he is going, and this increases her anxiety, and then there's the footsteps she hears in the room above her. It becomes clear that Jack is intent on convincing Bella that she is going insane, even to the point of assuring her she is imagining things.

I'm so glad that I didn't give in to the temptation of watching either of the two films made in 1940 and 1944, and kept this production to be my first viewing because this show is a masterclass in thrills and suspense.

Bella Manningham is played by Kareena Sims, and as soon as she steps onto the stage you get that feeling of nervousness in her physicality. All the way through that tension between Bella and Jack increases making for an uneasy air from the stage. It isn't until much alter that you get an indication that maybe Bella is not losing her marbles as Jack would like her to think, thanks to the help of a strange visitor.

Alastair Murden, a new name to me and to the Lace Market Theatre team, plays Jack Manningham. Creating that fear and tension with such a bubbling under sense of menace is something that not every actor can do successfully, but Alastair gets it spot on. There's a scene where he snaps for a second and raises his voice to Bella, which makes practically everyone in the auditorium jump, so successfully lulled we all were. Jack is the archetypal man of the house for this period and sees his wife as inferior and plays on this by berating her, making her feel insecure - in every way possible, and flirting with the housemaid. I sat near a couple of mature ladies and could hear their tutting and comments as every negative sentence aimed at Bella was delivered.

Inspector Rough, who turns up at the Manningham residence, is played by Charles Moss. I don't know why but I got a feeling of a "Columbo" influence from Charles, especially as slowly the whole story was revealed. It was nice to see Charles back on the Lace Market Theatre stage and great to hear his projection as the almost excitable Rough gave the full history, present and future of what was to occur. 

There was one scene that had you holding your breath regarding an item of clothing, and whether he would retrieve it in time. Great little suspense packed scene!

Elizabeth, the extremely loyal housekeeper, is played by Anne McCarroll. Elizabeth is smart and sees what is going on within the household and the knowledge she has helps in the development in the second act. As usual, Anne is perfect in her character acting.

Holly Cooke plays Nancy, the feisty, street-smart housemaid who acts as if she is the mistress of the house, and the object of Jack's flirting. There's no love lost between Bella and Nancy as demonstrated by the way Nancy addresses Bella and plays up to Jack's flirting. Love the proper East End accent that Holly uses in this role.

The two policemen at the very end are played by James Whitby and Luke Willis.

Directed by Polis Louizu, who also does the sound design for this production alongside Simon Carter. Making sure that the actors keep an audience on the edge of their seats all the way through is not an easy task for a Director but Polis did just that. It also helps having a fantastic cast who can act their socks off.

Set Designer for "Gaslight" is Alexandrea Hopkirk-Spratt. As usual the Lace Market Theatre create marvellous sets and this is no different. As soon as you see the set it takes you back to the era of "Jack the Ripper" and foggy, dark cobbled streets, even though it's only the interior we see, the design gets your imagination travelling outside the parameters of the stage setting. Take a look at the pictures and you'll get an idea of the work and the design that has gone into this set.

Lighting Design is by Nick Gale. This design really creates the spookiness of the plotline, and as soon as that design starts to kick in, it also puts you on your back foot. With the title of the play being "Gaslight", it straight away indicates that the lighting of the set is a big clue to the sort of design you're in for, but it's also what creates the tense moments.

The costumes for this brilliant period piece are thanks to wardrobe wizard Max Bromley and Sue Roberts. I love a good period drama because everyone's costume is classy; that's one of the reasons why "Downton Abbey" was such a hit in my opinion. Style and class throughout.

Wigs for this show are provided by Linda Croston.

Props are sourced by Lesley Brown and there are many of them. This is also another area of production that the Lace Market crew excel at, and I love that when the characters have tea, or a drink of any kind, or something to eat, you see the liquid that forms that drink. The items in the writing desk are relatable, the glass cabinet doesn't have just a few glasses, it's a complete cabinet. I really enjoy getting into my seat early so that I can take in all the detail of the set because there's so much to look out for. 

As I said earlier, the play is a masterclass in acting and presentation as well as manipulating an audience as to how they should feel throughout a production and to the individual on stage characters. If you like a good thriller, come see this one because you will NOT be disappointed at all.

"Gaslight" is at the Nottingham Lace Market theatre until Saturday 27 September.

Photography is by Kathryn Edwards.