The Woman in Black

The phenomenon of the supernatural and our fascination with all that is spooky and frightening is the subject of The Woman in Black. An old-fashioned ghost story based on Susan Hill’s novel and adapted for the stage by Stephen Mallatratt, it tells the tale of a simple haunting that quickly escalates into something far more sinister.

Set in the Victorian era, the play follows solicitor Arthur Kipps (Robert Demeger) and The Actor (Peter Bramhill) as they edit and rehearse Kipps’ manuscript documenting his experience in the town of Crythin Gifford, where he was sent to catalogue the papers of recently-deceased client, Alice Drablow. But as Kipps delves deeper into the affairs of the late Mrs Drablow, he encounters the mysterious Woman in Black, and uncovers a tale of vengeance from beyond the grave. Hill’s novel has captivated readers’ imaginations since its original publication in 1983, four years before Mallatratt first brought it to the stage in 1987.

Now, over 20 years later, the seemingly unstoppable story of a malevolent spirit and a family curse remains a tribute to our fascination with the paranormal, and the seductive allure of what we deem both macabre and dangerous. However, the real magic of this production lies in the Mallatratt’s simple premise of performing the story as a ‘play within a play’, which quickly becomes perfectly believable with Michael Holt’s simple and interchangeable dusty stage set. Combined with Gareth Owen’s eerie sound design, the normal constraints of theatre are abandoned, and the only limit is the audience’s imagination.

Director Robin Herford’s production is technically slick and highly atmospheric, creating just the right balance of entertainment and terror, while both Demeger and Bramhill excel in their demanding roles. Particularly notable is Demeger, who is able to interchange between a number of different characters with enviable ease. Beneath the decadent veneer of ghostly goings on, this is a story about our hope that death is not the end, and that there to be a life after this one, a desire which unites most of us.