Seventeenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

Theatre artists constantly reimagine texts and narratives in ways that draw together the past and the present—whether that past is centuries, decades, or even just a few years behind us. Since the rise of the #MeToo movement, theatre has increasingly interrogated and re-engaged with representations and stories of sexual and gender violence throughout canons of dramatic literature. While it can be generative to trace the patterns of this violence through historical texts and make connections with contemporary experiences, it is crucial to address embedded issues of misogyny when staging these older plays. How can theatre artists revive canonical plays in ways that confront both interpersonal and structural forms of gender violence and center those who have survived it? This paper examines a contemporary production of the 1938 play Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton which, through a critical intersectional feminist interpretation, aims to disrupt the white patriarchal focus of the original text and present a subversive counter-narrative that centers survivors, both onstage and in the audience. As the director of this production, I have worked with the cast, using Elaine Aston’s guidelines (inspired by Jo Spence’s term “cultural sniping”) for feminist restaging of canonical plays, to expose and critique the misogyny in Hamilton’s text while emphasizing the journey and empowerment of the central character, a survivor of domestic violence. In this analysis of our Gaslight, I discuss how critical directing and acting choices can reimagine historical plays to resonate with and serve contemporary audiences, most particularly survivors of sexual and gender violence.