Playing at the Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne until July 6, Canberra Theatre Centre from July 9-14, Illawarra Performing Arts Centre from July 17-21, Newcastle Civic Theatre from July 23-27 and Theatre Royal Sydney from July 30-August 17.
More Info and tickets can be found at: thewomaninblack.com.au
A gripping and engrossing revival of the long-running West End play, which in turn was based on the 1983 novel by Susan Hill, this is a stirring horror production which draws us into this spooky gothic tale instantly and keeps audiences riveted thanks to a pair of bravura performances.
With superb chemistry and dry humour to spare, John Waters and Daniel MacPherson dive into their roles with relish, with this unsettling story being very much an actor’s showcase.
The plot revolves around an aging man named Arthur Kipps (Waters) who meets up in an empty theatre with a spirited young actor (MacPherson), referred to only as The Actor. Kipps has written a play based on his own experiences, and wants The Actor to help bring it to life on the stage.
It’s then that we cleverly jump between watching Kipps and The Actor discuss the play’s script in the theatre, to seeing both characters act out the play itself, with often the lines blurring between what we are exactly seeing at any given moment.
With The Actor essaying the role of young Kipps and the elder Kipps serves as our narrator, as well as numerous other characters, both men chronicle the strange fate of a recently-deceased widow, Mrs Drablow, and the recurring (and disturbing) visions of the titular figure – a cloaked spectre who looms large over proceedings as The Actor travels to the home of Drabow to help settle her affairs, and becomes increasingly unnerved over the unsettling visions and unexplained phenomena he is privy to.
The plot is wonderfully old-fashioned and straight-forward at first, but becomes increasingly complex and unpredictable as it goes on. It may not reinvent the wheel when it comes to ghost stories but it embraces the scares and suspense that audiences expect from a tale like this and delivers them in spades.
What works so well is that we’re drawn instantly into the plight of the main duo almost instantly, so that when the danger ramps up later on we care greatly about their fates. Waters and MacPherson are dynamic and frequently hilarious in their roles, with MacPherson particularly impressive as he has the more difficult role of the two, and his effortless charisma and enthusiasm helps this production immeasurably.
MacPherson was the best thing about last year’s 2:22, a similarly spooky play that didn’t really work for me at all, with it featuring stock characters and reverting to cheap jump scares. In comparison, The Woman in Black takes its time to build the suspense and tension and boasts two compelling central characters.
The slightly tilted stage is an unusual production choice and works brilliantly to put us quietly off kilter, and the simple but effective set design perfectly evokes the haunted house aesthetic. One sequence in which a dog heavily features makes us use our imagination entirely for the canine and thanks to MacPherson’s wonderful acting, no prop pooch is required at all.
Effective lighting is a must for a production like this, and Kevin Sleep’s lighting design perfectly sets up some brilliant shocks and surprises. There are some genuinely terrifying moments during this show and I loved the fact that the scares worked so well on the stage, which is always a tricky proposition to pull off. Robin Herford’s taut direction leads to lots of memorable sequences and some truly unsettling moments, aided by some believably terrified acting from MacPherson.
The audience I saw this with really got into the show, as evidenced by people calling out “Oh no!” and similar terrified expressions whenever the titular figure would make an appearance. But thankfully, as mentioned before, the show has a good dose of humour to keep things from ever getting too grim and serious.
At the end of the day, what works best about The Woman in Black is the two central performances, as well as the deft way it lurches between the staging of the play and the backstage conversations between Kipps and The Actor. While MacPherson steals the show, Waters is no less impressive in the way he easily jumps from minor character to another as The Actor investigates this whole sordid affair.
With lesser actors this play would not work nearly as well as it does, but thankfully we’re blessed with two terrific leads, making for a rip-roaringly fun and genuinely scary stage experience.
TINSEL and TAP SHOES 