Gaslight by Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre October 21-November 2, 2014. Interview with cast members Adrian Hough and Wes Borg.
Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre opens their seventh season (the second in the Roxy Theatre in Quadra Village) with the classic Victorian thriller Gaslight. Originally written by Patrick Hamilton in 1938, it received wide recognition for the film version featuring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer.
Adrian Hough joins the Blue Bridge ensemble for the first time as Jack Massingham, the “dastardly husband, while Thea Gill (last seen here in A Streetcar Named Desire and well-known for Queer as Folk) appears as his wife Bella. M-award winning local entertainer Wes Borg, creator of Derwin Blanshard’s Extremely Classy Sunday Evening Programme appears as Detective Rough.
Hough and Borg joined me to for a conversation about the play.
Hough is a prolific actor with over 100 credits to his name including Canadian Bacon, The Fog, Xmen 3, Underworld 2, Charlie St Cloud, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Stargate, and Klondike. In 2013 he was nominated for a BAFTA for his role in the game Assassin’s Creed.
Adrian Hough (Jack Massingham) and Wes Borg (Detective Rough)
What drew you to Gaslight?
Adrian Hough:
I knew of Brian Richmond (director of Gaslight) but never had the chance to work with him. Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre is known for the quality of the work they produce, so when someone on the board suggested me for the role I was happy to submit an audition video.
I trained as a classical actor in England, and like to do a play a year. Theatre often takes you away for long periods of time whereas film and TV projects are short-term. I have three children still at home so it’s actually been four years since I performed in a play. However, I’m extremely attracted to classical theatre. Gaslight is a complex and powerful piece—it’s not a role to walk away from. It’s a challenge to perform in front of a live audience where you don’t get a second take (unlike film or television). The appeal of Gaslight for me is in the layers and layers of possibility within the characters.
Wes Borg:
Every time I do a show for Brian (Richmond) he kicks my a** and I can’t use my usual bag of tricks. To up the ante with the role of Detective Rough, he suggested I use a Scottish accent. Iris MacGregor Bannerman (who plays the role of the maid Elizabeth in the show) was my dialect coach—she’s a goddess of dialects—and I also had help from my friend (and Coronation Street star) Jacqueline Chadwick who is actually Scottish.
For me, being part of the BBRT ensemble is like getting paid to be in a master class. It’s very humbling to be working with individuals of this calibre. I have great admiration and respect for the entire cast, from the most seasoned to newcomer Grace Vukovic (in the role of the young maid Nancy).
What would you say to a potential audience member, someone who doesn’t see a lot of theatre?
Adrian Hough:
They will see people at the top of their game in a tense, spooky and classical play and be blown away that this level of theatre is done on the island. I urge people to support 100 mile arts just as they would 100 mile food.
Wes Borg:
The play gets so dark and twisted. It just takes off! If we do it right, the audience won’t know who did it. It’s a very professional piece of theatre.
Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton, directed by Brian Richmond
Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre at the Roxy (in Quadra Village)
October 21-November 2, 2014
Tickets: $20-$42 at Ticket Rocket-online, in person (#2-1609 Blanshard Street at Fisgard) or by phone 250 590 6291
Set in a fog-bound London in 1880, Bella Manningham is slowly losing her mind. Or is she being driven into madness by her rakishly handsome and ambitious husband Jack?
An elegantly structured morality tale that shows the consequences of what happens when a woman chooses the wrong man; Gaslight has thrilled audiences around the world since its theatrical premiere in 1938 and the 1944 George Cukor film of the same name starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer.
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