A happily married Victorian woman starts to lose things - watch, a brooch, a picture frame.

Suddenly her perfect husband has become an icy stranger, who accuses her of losing her mind and life becomes a nightmare.

Anyone familiar with the famous play Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton will recognise the scenario at once. The play has been thrilling audiences since the 1930s and stands as the ultimate 'lady in peril' drama.

Its heroine Bella Manningham has a lot to cope with. Every night her husband goes out, leaving her alone as the fog bound evenings draw in and sinister footsteps can be heard creaking in the attic and the gaslights dim.

Is she really losing her mind or is there something - or somebody - else behind it all?

This new production at Windsor's Theatre Royal promises to chill audiences. Some lucky people might even be seeing it for the first time, in which case the twists and turns of its clever plot will make the experience even more exciting.

One of Britain's best actors Martin Shaw heads the cast as Bella's ambiguous husband. His extraordinary career has taken him from a starring role in Roman Polanski's film of Macbeth, through his 'pin-up' days in the Professionals, through to mature roles as TV's Judge John Deed and West End triumphs including An Ideal Husband, Twelve Angry Man and A Man for All Seasons.

Also in the cast is James Wilby, whose leading roles in Gosford Park, A Handful of Dust and Howards End made him a key figure in British cinema - while Charlotte Emmerson, whose many television shows include Silent Witness, Casualty and Law and Order plays the put upon Bella.

Windsor audiences are getting a special preview of this revival before it heads to the West End.

Gaslight can be seen at the Theatre Royal, Windsor from Wednesday, September 18 to Saturday, September 28. Box office 01753 853888.