The Woman in Black – The Curve Theatre, Leicester

Author: Susan Hill

Adaptor: Stephen Mallatratt

Director: Robin Herford

Reviewer: David Noble

The Public Reviews Rating:

The Woman in Black is purely and simply a ghost story. There are no undertones. There are no morals. The aim is only to scare, frighten and startle. The late Stephen Mallatratt’s acclaimed adaptation of the original novel by Susan Hill restricts the number of actors to just two, allowing for a personal and sometimes humourous performance, whilst also being a chilling thriller.

On this solid basis, the direction of Robin Herford thrives. The use of classically suspenseful techniques, and the repeated use of unbelievably loud sound effects, made this reviewer jump on more than one occasion! The story, somewhat typically, centres on the visit of a solicitor to a haunted house in a town in the middle of nowhere upon the death of a client. It naturally all goes downhill from there. Nonetheless, this production is innovative in both its use of lighting to create vivid imagery (full credit to Kevin Sleep), and its use of powerful narrative to verbally decorate a fairly blank stage.

Robert Demeger is magnificent as the beleaguered Arthur Kipps, playing a plethora of roles to perfection, and his versatility and constant vitality was the driving force behind the performance. As his character grew in confidence, the audience became more and more engaged in this genuinely creepy story, which was a wonderfully executed ploy. Equally as impressive is Peter Bramhill in the part of The Actor, he was relied upon to provide the raw emotion in the scenes of horror, and he did so with aplomb. In fact the combination of the two actors was brilliant, the discourse was sparkling and they played off one another expertly.

All in all, The Woman in Black delivers exactly what it intends to, in so much that it is actually spine-chilling, and does so without reverting to the gore and violence that is such a common theme in modern horror films. It does lack any sort of meaning or pragmatics, but nevertheless it is a thoroughly enjoyable piece of theatre if it is viewed as it should be. Needless to say, those who scare easily should steer well clear!