The Woman in Black | Storyhouse Chester

After a long standing run at the Fortune Theatre in London's West End, which spanned over 33 years, The Woman in Black is now embarking on a UK Tour. Stephen Mallatratt's stage adaptation of the novel by Susan Hill uses the play within a play structure, with two actors to bring the horror to life, and with limited stage props or special effects, the play's vision is for audiences to submit to the creation of atmosphere, imagination and suggestion.

The story follows Arthur Kipps, a solicitor who hires the help of a young actor to tell his story about his encounter with The Woman in Black at the Eel Marsh House to his family and friends. The young actor plays out the events that Mr Kipps went through whilst Kipps himself plays all the characters that he encounters. John Mackay as Arthur Kipps and Daniel Burke as The Actor both have commanding stage presences which grip the audience throughout the dialogue heavy play.

Mackay is utterly convincing with his bumbling and nervous energy, weighed down by the burden of his trauma, but it's in his quick character changes with distinctive demeanours and accents where he truly shines. Burke is confident and charismatic as The Actor and gives a solid performance of his practical and rational thinking slowly being stripped away as he submits to the idea of a haunting presence. The only issue here is that whilst Mackay gives clear character types, sometimes it can be difficult to keep up with the characters that are being interacted with due to the quick paced dialogue.

The limited stage design gives the opportunity for the audience to run away with their imagination, and this is witnessed on stage when a trunk is used often to become a bed or a horse and cart amongst lots of other settings. The stage design sets the play in the correct time period and a sheer curtain hides different ghostly locations behind it. Sound effects and lighting give off an eerie and haunting presence, but a recurring issue with the speakers during the second act took the audience out of the tension building.

However, although tension is built really well with sudden blackouts or sound effects, one would expect more horror from a ghost story and there's little jump scare to cause a real fright.

The Woman in Black gives a masterclass in acting and proves that sometimes less is more in terms of production design. However, the lack of fright meant that this reviewer felt underwhelmed in what was expected to be a thrilling evening.

The Woman in Black plays at the Storyhouse Chester until 27th September before embarking on a UK Tour.

Tickets and More Information

★★★☆☆ (3*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review