*** Warning – contains spoilers ***
I first came across ‘The Woman In Black’ last year when I watched the film starring Daniel Radcliffe, a new ‘Hammer Horror’ adaptation of the Susan Hill novel that received mixed reviews but I thoroughly enjoyed thanks to its clever use of lighting and genuine chills. Though I have a copy of the book but have yet to finish reading it, I thought the opportunity to see the stage play was one I wouldn’t want to miss, so grabbed a ticket to see the production as it stopped by in York.
Adapted also from the novel – with perhaps a tighter grip on the inspiring plot than the film – it tells the story of Arthur Kipps sent to the village of Crythin Gifford to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow and then to work his way through her jumbled papers in her decrepit house on the edge of a marsh. There he comes across a mysterious figure – the titular woman in black – who makes his visit to the area, already uncomfortable due to the mysterious behaviour of the locals – considerably uncomfortable.
Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation is very interesting and well done. It takes the Hill novel and builds it around Kipps (played by Julian Forsyth) hiring an unnamed actor (played by Anthony Eden) to retell the story to help him come to terms with the incident. The play is built around the rehearsal of the play between the man and actor and their notes on how to make Kipps a better public speaker. As the play progresses Kipps becomes more involved with the story and it focuses more on the re-telling than the mechanics of turning his account into an interesting play.
It’s a very well set-up mechanic with the minimal props on stage, the lighting, recorded sound, a rack of clothes and the ability of the two leading men to carry the play on their own, all working together to paint a vivid picture of the incidents. It’s surprisingly funny at the start with Forsyth and Eden both capturing the absurdity of the situation and there are some genuine laughs from their portrayals, even as the play progresses and into the second half, especially on the introduction of the dog, Spider.
But it is also scary with a mixture of lighting, sounds, projections and props that get the most scares out of the premise. It’s not as creepy or as chilling as the film, relying a lot on sudden shocks, but it was well set-up and made the best use of the nature of the stage for scares outside of the slow-building horror cinema can offer. There was only one moment in the play that I jumped at but it was clear from the people in the audience – which was a nice mix of all ages – that many found it particularly scary, and there was certainly something about all the elements coming together that made it chilling as if something was going to jump out at any moment, and it was well put together, and I did feel a sense of unease throughout most of the second half.
The novel adaptation works well even if it does feel the element involving the children is shoe-horned a little in without any build up. The extra twist at the end of the play adds to the legend of the Woman in Black and ends the play on a suggested tragic note, but is obviously signposted early on in the piece, but it all works well together.
Both Forsyth and Eden were strong storytellers and brought the piece to life, especially Forsyth who had to portray many different characters, but both carried a two-hour play together with strength. The un-credited nature of the woman added to the mystery and the use of props, lighting and multiple layers of the stage was impressive and, though not as technically marvellous as ‘The Inspector Calls’ which I saw last year, was no-less a great use of space and captured the feel of the house perfectly.
Not afraid to throw in humour as well as the scares, it was a great novel adaptation for the stage and though I didn’t find it particular scary personally, a lot did and it certainly had its chilling moments, but it was the portrayal of the characters and the telling of the story that really sold it for me.
Well worth seeing as it continues its tour. 7/10
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