Stephen Mallatratt’s adaption of Susan Hill’s 1983 novel The Woman in Black returned to Poole Lighthouse this week, once again captivating its audience. Early laughs gradually gave way to tense silence as the audience leaned further onto the edge of their seats.
Running until Saturday, February 21, remaining tickets for The Woman in Black are on sale now.
The play-within-a play format allows actors John Mackay and Daniel Burke to shift between characters with astonishing fluidity. Burke transitions from a charming and confident acting coach into Arthur Kipps, a man crushed by a ghost story that still haunts him. Mackay begins as the older Kipps, before moving effortlessly between the many supporting characters, each with their own distinct personas.
Eel Marsh House - the gothic manor cut off from the mainland by a natural causeway that appears only at low tide – feels as much a presence as either performer. Incredible lighting and stagecraft seamlessly take the audience from one location to another without breaking the tension for a moment.
The dialogue beckons the audience forward, which make the jump scares land with twice the effect. Audible gasps and screams separate the silence, audience members clung to each other, somebody told me they watched the whole second half through their fingers.
Hill’s novel was first published in 1983, but reads like it came straight from the Victorian era in which its set, think M R James, Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker. Malatratt’s adaption was first staged in 1987 and was once one of the longest-running plays in West End history, it ran for 33 years at the Fortune Theatre.
The Woman in Black remains a study in grief, trauma, and isolation, but it's still a hell of a good time.