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Theatre listings > The Woman in Black. - Tour. Playwright - adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from the novel by Susan Hill. Director - Robin Herford. Lighting Design - Kevin Sleep. Designer - Michael Holt. Company - PW Productions Company Website. Check out The Woman In Black website - very atmospheric! Cast - here . Venue - The King's Theatre, Edinburgh 0131 529 6000. Dates - 25 – 29 Oct at 7.30pm, Wed & Sat mats 2.30pm. 2005 Tour Dates and Times - here . Seen to review at The King's Theatre, Edinburgh on 25 October 2005. Reviewer - Lorraine McCann. Dark brew of mystery and foreboding. After sixteen sell-out years in the London West End, translation into twelve languages and productions being mounted in forty-one countries, it must be common knowledge that The Woman in Black is one of the most popular ghost stories of modern times - and no wonder, either. With its classic ingredients of spooky old house, mad old woman, naïve lawyer and psychologically scarred narrator, it conjures up a dark brew of mystery and foreboding before plumbing the depths of good old-fashioned schlock. The premise is of a similar vintage to the Pentland Hills: once upon a time, a young London lawyer named Arthur Kipps was sent down to the coast to go through the papers of a woman who had died. At her residence, Eelmarsh House, an imposing mansion situated eerily on a wave-worn causeway, he encounters a series of strange happenings - sounds, sensations and specters - that convince him that something terrible happened in that desolate place. However, worse was to come, as the malignant shadow of Eelmarsh House casts its influence far beyond Arthur's brief soujourn . . . The brilliant thing about Robert Herford's full-blooded direction is that it knows exactly what the audience wants - namely, to be really, truly, scared. On the night I went, we were fortunate to have in our midst a sizeable gaggle of schoolgirls, who obligingly shrieked and gasped at every turn, making the most of the show's turbo-charged melodrama. Great fun was had with shadow-play, pre-recorded screams and the old 'look out, she's behind you' technique. Anyone familiar with the somewhat more melancholy tone of Susan Hill's novel, or even the 1980s TV adaptation, might be a little taken aback by the panto-like atmosphere, but this is just the original writ large. In terms of the two central performances, Robert Demeger cuts a sympathetic figure as the poor, tormented older-Kipps, while Andrew P. Stephen is a lithe and lissome younger version. Both men also revel in their other roles, with Stephen particularly enjoyable as the theatre director hired by Kipps to help him deliver his story to his family. Can't help feeling sorry for the woman having to pop up all over the place spooking everybody, though . . . she's got the title role and she doesn't even get to take a bow! © Lorraine McCann 25 October 2005 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com Cast - Robert Demeger - Kipps, Andrew P. Stephen - Younger Kipps & Director. Other Roles share between them. 2005 Tour Details of PW Productions' production of The Woman In Black. Tour continues 25 – 29 Oct at 7.30pm, Wed & Sat mats 2.30pm EDINBURGH King’s Theatre 0131 529 6000. 31 Oct – 5 Nov at 7.45pm, Thu & Sat mats 2.30pm BROMLEY Churchill Theatre0870 060 6620 (bkg fee). 7 – 12 Nov at 7.45pm, Thu & Sat mats 2.30pm CAMBRIDGE Arts Theatre 0122 350 3333. 23 – 27 Nov at 8pm, Thu & Sat mats 3pm JERSEY Opera House 0153 451 1115. 30 Nov – 3 Dec at 7.45pm Thu & Sat mats 2.45pm BARNSTAPLE Queens Theatre 01271 32 4242. Tour ends. Theatre Editor, Thelma Good's e-mail is thelma@edinburghguide.com Although every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in these pages, no responsibility can be accepted for any errors or omissions. Theatre listings >
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