Theatre Review: The Woman in Black
This is a review of the theatrical production of The Woman in Black, not the book and certainly not the film.
When I was 17, I was taken on a school trip to see a theatrical production of The Woman in Black, at the Fortune Theatre in London, and it was incredible! It is the only theatrical production I've ever seen that has left me genuinely scared while I watched, and it is a reputation well earned! So when I went on holiday to London last week, I knew that I wanted to go again and re-live the experience. And my review of the second viewing?
...
It was still frickin' incredible!
A little bit of history for you:
The play was adapted from a book of the same name by Susan Hill, published in 1983. The Woman in Black is the second longest-running non-musical play in the West End of London, and has been shown in the Fortune Theatre since August 1989. The show is famous for it's gripping story, it's great effects, and for the incredible performance of only two actors (but more about them later)!
There are only two actors in the play, so there is not much room for poor performances in this show.
As you might know from my previous reviews on this blog, I'm not going to talk very much about to plot of the play, but I am going to mention a couple of my favorite parts of the production below. If you don't want to read about the plot at all, scroll down to the other side of the picture below.
The whole production is expertly crafted to draw the audience in, and keep their focus on the tale of the mysterious woman in black. There are many moments which caused the audience to jump out of their seats, and even made a couple of the younger members scream as the action unfolded in front of our eyes.
The plot focuses on a man's desire to tell his story, the story a young solicitor attending the funeral of a client in the small town of Crythin Gifford. During Mr Kipps' visit he comes across the terrible tale which has haunted the town, The tale of The Woman in Black, and is gripped by the urge to uncover the truth...
There are so many moments which leave your heart in your mouth, with occasional jump scares, prolonged low lighting, and some brilliant uses of sound and visual effects to enhance the atmosphere of the performance. My favorite scene of all, and this description will probably only make sense to those of you who have seen the play, is the scene when the music box begins playing...
As mentioned before, there are only two actors in the play, so there is not much room for poor performances in this show. These actors between them portray all of the different characters who appear in the story, and guide the audience through the mysterious lands of North-East England. I cannot praise these actors enough in this review, and I think their work was absolutely stunning.
Note: The descriptions of the characters is slightly confusing, but hopefully you'll be able to appreciate my review of them here. If you've seen the play, you'll understand why.
Arthur Kipps, portrayed by Richard Hope, is the first character we were introduced to on the stage, and immediately grabbed the audience's attention. His portrayal of an elderly gentlemen who has been living with the terrible memories of the events the play centers around is absolutely gripping. He brings a sense of realism and humor to the role as needed, and keeps the audience hanging on every word he says.
Throughout the play however, Richard goes on to perform every character which the younger Arthur Kipps meets on his journey through Crythin Gifford. With nothing more than a simple costume chance, and the occasional accent, Richard transitions between all of these characters with the greatest of ease and never left the audience confused who he was. Changing between an elderly lawyer, a wary landlord, and a suspicious coach driver, he excelled and make each of the characters compelling in their own way.
The other actor, Mark Hawkins, was playing the part of the Actor (yes, that's the name the audience is given). He did a fantastic job of talking the audience through the different elements of how to draw the audience into listening to any story which you want to tell, as well as drawing the real audience in to seeing the world through his eyes.
Mark then goes on to portray the young Arthur Kipps, undertaking the task which underpins the whole performance. Mark does a great job of mimicking the mannerisms of Richard's portrayal of Arthur Kipps, as well as bringing the youth and inexperience of the character to life. The audience is made to see the events through Mr Kipps eyes, and Mark kept us all on the edges of our seats as we watched him come to terms with what he is experiencing.
The performance itself was amazingly impressive. The theatre is not a large space, but the show makes full use of the space it has. The stage has several different areas to it, with most of the action taking place right at the front near the audience, making it impossible to miss the gripping action as it unfolded. The show also uses changes in light to switch between the past and present, and keeps the majority of the action in fairly low light to add to the sense of mystery of the piece. There is also an effective use of sound effects, reaching uncomfortably high volumes to throw the audience off kilter as well.
Although I could keep talking about this piece with you for ages, I'm going to leave the review here with a simple message to you.
Go and watch this show! You will not regret it!
Visit https://www.thewomaninblack.com/ for information on production dates and tickets.
Until next time,
Tim
Plot: ✇ ✇ ✇ ✇ ✇ Performance: ✇ ✇ ✇ ✇ ✇ Overall: ✇ ✇ ✇ ✇ ✇