The Woman in Black, Theatre Royal Nottingham

Nottingham’s Theatre Royal with its imposing columns and iconic chandelier is a fittingly eery venue for The Woman in Black, especially at the times when torchlight is the only illumination.

The play is framed around Arthur Kipps (Malcom James) and The Actor (Mark Hawkins) rehearsing a production retelling the story when the younger Kipps was tasked with going through private papers of the recently deceased Mrs. Drablow at Eel Marsh House.

The first act is a slow burn, purposefully introducing stage elements that will be later used to great and horrifying effect. Hawkins first enters the scene through the auditorium, telling the audience that in this show people (or hauntings) can come from all around you. This leads to an enjoyable discomfort not knowing from where scares and spooks will emerge.

If the first act is to lull you into a false sense of security, the second act is to jolt you wide awake. Robin Herford’s direction is perfectly paced. Long drawn-out moments make me and the rest of the audience hold our collective breath in anticipation of some unknown scare. Stephen Mallatratt’s adaption of Susan Hill’s 1983 novel ensures that just enough of these moments do not end with a fright, that we never become to at ease with the horror.

Arthur Kipps may insist he doesn’t want an Olivier, but James’ and Hawkins’ portrayals are surely worthy such awards. James plays Kipps with a weathered feel. Kipps just wants his story to be told in the hope that it will exorcise The Woman in Black from his memory and bring him peace.

Within the framework of the performance that the two characters are rehearsing, Kipps takes on the role of narrator and side characters. This gives James the added complexity of playing a character playing multiple other characters. This is well signposted through the use of props and costumes, as well as accents and changes in demeanour.

Hawkins plays the unnamed Actor with similar aplomb. The Actor ends up taking the role of the young Kipps and Hawkins manages to capture looks of genuine wide-eyed terror throughout the play. Even within the play-within-a-play framework, Hawkins exudes ever increasing fear throughout the play.

For a play such as this, it is of course vital that the actors be adept at presenting the horror scenes. But they are equally talented in their delivery of comic moments such as miming interactions with Spider the dog. It is through the balance of comedy and horror that the show excels in never letting the audience get too comfortable.

Although the play’s narrative weight is delivered as a two-hander, there is, of course, a third player in the show: The Woman in Black herself, creepily played by Ishbel Cumming. Draped in black and painted gaunt white, Cumming moves with menacing purpose and delivers many of the show’s signature scares. 

Micheal Holt’s stage design is evocative despite, or perhaps because of, its seeming simplicity. A wicker basket becomes a pony and trap one moment and a bureau the next. A stage door is innocent when presented as just a stage door, but it transforms into something sinister during the show when we discover it is locked and can hear footsteps from within. At times fog fills the auditorium, drawing us into the treacherous marshes disorienting us as it does the young Kipps who stumbles across the stage trying to find his way back to Eel Marsh House.

A thick cloth backdrop is rendered ghostily translucent by Kevin Sleep’s clever lighting design, revealing a second space that distorts and morphs from a graveyard to a child’s bedroom. Beyond that is a staircase silhouetted by moonlight that is immediately disturbing, sending an anticipatory chill across the audience. Further spine tingling is induced by the occasional use of candlelight, casting long shadows across the stage revealing and hiding in equal measure.

Sebastian Frost’s sound design (original sound by Rod Mead) is the final piece of the theatrical puzzle that makes this show truly terrifying. From barely audible footsteps to knocking from the other side of a locked door the sound builds tension until a great release from the Woman in Black’s piercing screams.

So all-encompassing is the sound, it is hard to tell where the staged screeches end, and the audience’s screams begin. Helped by a particularly frightful school group the audience gasps and squeals in a way only achievable through true palpable horror.

The Woman in Black plays at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham until Saturday 2 December.