Zack Powell plays a devious husband, Jack, opposite Katie Kleiger, who stars as his wife, Bella, in 'Deceived.' The play runs through Jan. 4 at Everyman Theatre. Photo by Teresa Castracane Photography

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Baltimore’s Everyman Theatre has made it a bit of a tradition to start the holidays with a mystery, a work of suspense.

Last year for instance, Everyman staged Agatha Christie’s classic whodunit And Then There Were None.

This holiday season, Vincent Lancisi directs a stellar four-member cast in Deceived, Johanna Wright and Patty Jamieson’s adaptation of Patrick Hamilton’s classic play, Gas Light, a psychological thriller set in late 19th-century London.

Fans of the Academy Award-winning 1944 Ingrid Bergman film adaptation, Gaslight, will notice a number of changes in this updated production, including comic quips and moments of levity to ease the tension.

The result is a well-balanced, “something-for-everyone” play that the audience thoroughly enjoyed — like that first quaff of eggnog that marks another Yuletide season.

At the heart of the play is Katie Kleiger’s Bella Manningham, first introduced to us as the “stereotypical Victorian” woman. She’s respectable, married, well-off and obsessed with revealing how much she adores her husband on a minute-to-minute basis.

That husband, Jack (Zack Powell), serves as a catalyst who sends Bella down a rabbit hole of self-doubt bordering on madness.

Bella’s transformation from assured lady of the house to near resident of Bedlam is swift but feels natural, given Kleiger’s fine performance. In her facial expressions and movements across the stage, one senses her struggle — but never despair, only a determination to overcome.

A subtle villain

Powell crafts his character well, never reducing his part to mustache-twirling caricature. Instead, he cloaks his malevolence in what appears to be true concern for his wife’s well-being, enough to give the audience some doubt as to whether he is actually at fault. This adds to the tension in the first act and leaves one wondering: What is really happening here?

In the background we find the ever-reliable Deborah Hazlett as Elizabeth, Bella’s supportive and pragmatic housekeeper, who makes the most of a somewhat limited role. She finds herself at center stage near the play’s end as Bella’s savior, thanks to a well-swung iron skillet.

A particular delight is Em Whitworth’s Nancy, who steals the show with her every appearance. Nancy, the young, attractive and highly opportunistic maid, had the audience laughing with each smirk and sassy Cockney comment.

In one of the play’s most astounding scenes, Nancy also reveals herself to be a sort of Greek chorus, asserting a streetwise wisdom that whisks away any doubts Bella might harbor about her senses and sanity.

As we ponder Bella’s predicament, a scene from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol comes to mind. The ghost of Jacob Marley confronts the disbelieving Scrooge, asking why he doubts his own senses. Why does Bella doubt what she sees and hears, what is in plain sight? From missing pearls, to rattling in the attic, to dimming gaslights — could she be imagining all of this? Has her late mother’s insanity taken root in her?

While Marley frightens Scrooge into submission, Nancy’s tact is stunning, a metaphorical slap across the face. Her common sense has the effect of a sudden, sharp wind dispelling a fog that has kept hidden a rather interesting MacGuffin — an object that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters. To shed light on what this object is, you’ll need to see the play.

Kudos to scenic and light designers Daniel Ettinger and Harold F. Burgess II for creating a set that perfectly evokes the Victorian era as seen in the Manningham living room: spacious, filled with dark, rich colors and layered textiles like velvet and damask, patterned wallpapers, ornate mahogany furniture, and a fireplace as a focal point. And, of course, a number of gas-lit sconces and lamps.

Each appearance by Nancy, with a lamplighter in hand to set the living room gaslights aflame — a clever technical effect as well as a symbol — served as a homage to the original play and the well-known film, a courtly bow to what is owed to these past works.

Deceived runs two hours and 20 minutes plus intermission, but the time flies. Wright and Jamieson’s work continues at the Everyman Theatre, 315 West Fayette Street in downtown Baltimore, now until January 4. Matinee prices start at $59. Tickets are on sale at everymantheatre.org or at the box office at (410) 752-2208.