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Terror by Gaslight
Terror by Gaslight
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Author: Tim Kelly Publisher: Dramatists Play Service (cover may change) Format: Softcover # of Pages: 68 Pub. Date: 1981 Edition: Acting ISBN-10: 0822211246 ISBN-13: 9780822211242 Cast Size: 6 female, 6 male
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About the Play:
Terror by Gaslight is a full-length suspense thriller by
Tim Kelly. The main character Dr. Cyrus Norton trains a group
of young surgeons while concealing his involvement with unsavoury
grave robbers as a persistent police detective comes closer to
learning the truth. Filled with suspense and sudden shocks, Terror by Gaslight is a
cleverly constructed thriller that will both enthrall and terrify your
audience as it traces its macabre tale of body-snatching, explosive
jealousies, and murder.
Terror by Gaslight tells the tale of Dr. Cyrus Norton, a
brilliant but eccentric surgeon, who is creating an "anatomical
museum" of the human body to further his standing as a
recognized expert on anatomy and dissection. The action takes place
in nineteenth-century Philadelphia, when people were first learning
about anatomy and surgery. The problem is that he needs cadavers for
teaching purposes, and by law, the only cadavers medical schools
could obtain were those from the public gallows. If there were no bad
guys being hung, he is forced to deal with the unsavoury Gin Hester
and her sinister partner, Scrubbs, two grave robbers and
body-snatchers who have little concern about where the corpses might
come from. In fact, in their zeal to practice their lucrative trade,
the two soon bring suspicion on Dr. Norton and his household: his
devoted daughter, who wants to follow in her father's footsteps; his prim and proper sister; and his eager assistant, a promising young doctor who
has fallen in love with the daughter. Chills mount as one eerie scene
follows another, and the persistent police detective assigned to the
case moves nearer to learning the truth about the blackmail and
increasingly vicious murders which have been engendered by the
doctor's obsession. In the end Dr. Norton himself falls victim to the
evil he has unleashed, but, as the curtain falls, we learn that he
has not died in vain – his daughter, Marilyn, has donned her
father's bloody apron and will carry on his "good work" for
the betterment of mankind and the advancement of science.
Terror by Gaslight was
first performed in 1979 at
Stage 13 in Seattle, under
the title The Creeping Fog.
It remains a
popular choice
for school
and community theatre productions.
Cast: 6 female, 6 male
About the Playwright:
Tim Kelly (1931-1998) is often regarded
as the most-published playwright in America, with over 300 titles to
his credit under both his real name and at least four pseudonyms
(Vera Morris, J. Moriarty, Robert Swift, Keith Jackson). Many of his
plays, like Les Miserables, M*A*S*H and The
Uninvited, are adaptations of novels, films. or television
series, although he also wrote a host of parodies a well as original
scripts and musical libretti. While his plays have been performed
off-Broadway and by such companies as the Royal Court Rep, the
Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) and Seattle Rep, he is best known for
writing for university, community and school theatre.
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Victor Hugo, adapted by Tim Kelly
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Richard Hooker, adapted by Tim Kelly
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