The Woman in Black – Gaiety Theatre – Review

Dates: 28th May. – 1st June

The play is set in the 1950s in England. The story starts with Arthur Kipps (Malcolm James) taking acting lessons. He has engaged an Actor (Mark Hawkins) to help him learn the techniques of the stage. Arthur has a story to tell and now wants to share it with others, as he can’t keep it a secret any longer. It is the story of his time as a young solicitor when he was sent to a remote part of England to work on the estate of an elderly client after her death. She was a wealthy, reclusive individual and the townsfolk seem to recoil at the mere mention of her name. While Arthur is visiting her estate, he encounters the mysterious Woman in Black!

The play is based on the 1983 gothic horror novel by English writer Susan Hill. The book was adapted for the stage by playwright Stephen Mallatratt. The play was hugely successful and became the second longest-running play in the West End, running at the Fortune Theatre for 33 years or 13,232 performances. It ended its run in the West End on the 4 March 2023. It is second only to the Mousetrap, which oddly enough ran at the Gaiety Theatre earlier this month!

The Woman in Black Tour 2023/24 by Susan Hill adapted by Stephen Mallatratt

Many will know the story from the 2012 film which starred Daniel Radcliffe as Arthur Kipps. The film was one of Radcliffe’s first major roles after the Harry Potter franchise and it received much attention at the time, making $129 million at the box office.

The play is essentially a two-hander with occasional visits from a mysterious individual! The device of a play within a play works well and allows for the stripped-down cast size. They fill out the world with sound effects, lighting and the audience’s imagination!

The early sections of the play work extremely well as we see Arthur struggling with acting. It allows for some fine comic touches, with his poor delivery of text and angsty reaction to criticism. Malcolm James gets to show off his range, playing a diverse group of characters throughout the piece. After the interval, the focus is on the ghost story. It is all you would expect with blood-curdling screams, strange happenings and spooky lighting. It is aimed at an audience aged 12 and over, so there is nothing too scary on stage. It’s a well-written tale of things that go bump in the night.

The Woman in Black Tour 2023/24
by Susan Hill adapted by Stephen Mallatratt