Proud and solitary, Eel Marsh House surveys the windswept reaches of the salt marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeway. Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, the house’s sole inhabitant, unaware of the tragic secrets which lie hidden behind the shuttered windows. It is not until he glimpses a wasted young woman dressed all in black at the funeral, that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold. This feeling is deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk of the woman in black – and her terrible purpose. Read more …
Years later, as an old man, he recounts his experiences to an actor in a desperate attempt to exorcise the ghosts of the past. The play unfolds around the conversations of these two characters as they act out the solicitor’s experiences on Eel Marsh all those years ago.
This is a magnificent production that should be experienced live to truly appreciate how clever it is at its simplicity to scare the bejesus out of you.
A mistimed creak here, a stray spotlight there and the illusion could have been broken, but it’s all been precisely put together to heart-stopping effect.
This production has been running for 28 years for good reason, it’s one hell of a terrifying tale!
The audience are lulled into a false sense of security before actors Malcolm James as Kipps and Matt Connor's Actor become party to an at times genuinely terrifying box of tricks, with light, shade and scarifying volume in abundance.
Not as much a classic as a theatrical rite of passage, The Woman in Black is an absolute must-see.
We’re only too ready to jump in our seats every time things go bump in the night.
The story of The Woman in Black is extremely interesting in itself, but it’s the wonderful way in which it has been adapted to the stage, that makes it obvious why it has been such a success for a quarter of a century.
What can be guaranteed at The Woman In Black is a blood curdling, nerve shattering emotional roller coaster like no other.
The Woman in Black operates as both a thriller and a wry comment on the role of theatre, as a place where ghosts may hope to be put to rest only to be given a further afterlife.
This is exemplary storytelling, and this production proves that there’s still room in the theatrical calendar for an old-fashioned tale brilliantly told – there’s plenty more life in the old spine-chiller yet.
Robin Herford--The Woman in Black
King's Theatre, Edinburgh from Tuesday April 14, 2015, until Saturday April 18, 2015. More info: http://www.edtheatres.com/kings
Theatre Royal, Glasgow from Monday April 20, 2015, until Saturday April 25, 2015. More info: www.theambassadors.com/theatreroyalglasgow/
King's Theatre, Glasgow from Tuesday January 17, 2017, until Saturday January 21, 2017. More info: www.theambassadors.com/kings/
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