In 2006, Merriam-Webster named “truthiness” its Word of the Year. Coined by comedian Stephen Colbert, the word was defined as a “seemingly” truthful quality supported not by facts, but “because of a feeling that it is true.”
In 2022, the Word of the Year was “gaslighting,” a related but far more serious expression for an era in which the instability of truth has embedded itself in our “culture” (which took the honor, based in part on search data, in 2014).
Over twice as long as any other recipient, Merriam-Webster’s definition for gaslighting is too long to quote in its entirety so we shall sum it up. It’s lying as a form of psychological manipulation to cause someone to question their own perceptions and even their sanity.
The word stems from a 1938 play by Patrick Hamilton. A hit on Broadway under the title “Angel Street” (with villain par excellence Vincent Price as the master-manipulating husband), it was ultimately memorialized in the splendid George Cukor-directed 1944 film version, “Gaslight.” Ingrid Bergman won the Oscar for her performance as the victim of said gaslighting, who had become convinced, among other falsities, that the regular dimming of the gas lamps in the house were her own imagination.
In 2023, shortly after gaslighting thanked Merriam-Webster, Hamilton and Bergman in its nonexistent acceptance speech, playwright Steven Dietz provided a very gently adapted version of the original play, now receiving its Chicago premiere at Northlight Theatre in Skokie. (According to a program note from artistic director BJ Jones, Northlight produced “Angel Street” in 1980. So he says … I can’t vouch for it personally, but why would he lie?)
A Victorian era-set thriller, the play — unlike the film — takes place in a single afternoon and evening. That means that for years before the start, Jack Manningham (Lawrence Grimm) has been working to convince his wife Bella (Cheyenne Casebier) that she constantly misplaces important objects even when she’s sure she knows exactly where they were. Many of them just happen to be his, thus allowing him to justify his anger and exasperation.
He alternates his deep disapprobation with affectionate assurances and promises to take her to the theater, a joyful thought soon dashed with the discovery that a painting has disappeared off the wall and a grocery bill has vanished.
Grimm is properly hateful as the tall and toxically temperamental male. Casebier nicely maintains a Victorian-styled naturalism as a walking nerve-ending, nearly convinced of her own mind’s untrustworthiness.
The dynamic twists with the entrance of Sergeant Rough, a former Scotland Yard detective who arrives with a history to tell Bella and a mystery to unravel.
Under Jessica Thebus’ direction, Rough’s entrance doesn’t just turn the plot but the style and tone of the production. Where Grimm limits the metaphorical mustache-twirling of the villain, and Casebier must muster the complex internal battle of the gaslit, Timothy Edward Kane goes all in on the comically heroic savior. He’s Sherlock Holmes, but just a bit bumbling and fashion-conscious. He thrills in the drama of escaping Mr. Manningham’s sightlines, taking advantage of every pillar in Collette Pollard’s set design to hide behind.
I have such mixed feelings about the extremity of this choice. It is, without question, fully fun, a deliciously melodramatic comic performance. It also dominates so completely that it deflates both the psychological creepiness and the suspense of the story.
This play’s title became a verb because of how disturbingly and convincingly it depicted Jack’s mental torture of Bella and her difficulty in overcoming it. It’s one thing to provide some comic relief, but another to provide an escape valve.
We see a similar clash of styles in the two servant characters. Kathy Scambiaterra’s Elizabeth lives in the world of a Victorian thriller where moments of comedy emerge from a character’s legitimate fears. Janyce Carabello’s Nancy lives in the world of stylized comedy, where working-class spunk comes with an exaggerated New York accent and fears not the possibility of danger.
Fortunately, the production ends with Casebier providing us a glimpse into the swirling confusion of gaslighting that feels “authentic” (Word of the Year, 2023), as well as an emotionally satisfying moment of triumphant “justice” (Word of the Year, 2018).
Merriam-Webster’s 2025 Word of the Year should be announced any day now.