Venue: Theatre Royal (Sydney NSW), 30 Jul – 17 Aug, 2024
Playwright: Stephen Mallatratt (from the novel by Susan Hill)
Director: Robin Herford
Cast: Daniel MacPherson, John Waters
Images by Justin Nicholas
Theatre review
Junior solicitor Arthur Kipps has been summoned to a small town in the northeast of England, where he is to attend the funeral of a Mrs. Alice Drablow and settle her estate. There are very strange goings-on, and even though Arthur turns certain that a ghost haunts the mansion, he is drawn deep into its enigma, instead of choosing to leave at the first instance. Like Susan Hill’s novel The Woman in Black on which it is based, Stephen Mallatratt’s stage version of the same name, involves elements of horror to have us seduced and gripped.
Clever direction by Robin Herford has ensured the production’s longevity, having played continuously at venues around the world since its inception in 1987. Lights by Kevin Sleep and sounds by Sebastian Frost are masterfully designed, to manufacture thrills and intrigue, in a staging memorable for the frights it so successfully delivers. Performances by John Waters and Daniel MacPherson are highly compelling, both actors innovative and adventurous, with a charming humour that keeps us simultaneously enthralled and revulsed.
Arthur is not the only person to be drawn to danger. As we see him brave the terrifying corridors of Eel Marsh House, we are initially confounded by his voluntary decision to send himself into jeopardy, but we also understand the nature of curiosity, and how our instincts can be easily lured by the promise of high stakes, precarious as it might be. Arthur really should have called it quits the moment he sensed that something was wrong, but his nature simply could not resist testing fate.
Suzy Goes See 