We may be emerging from long, dark, cold nights and blinking into the oncoming summer of unlock, but it is also almost Halloween. The perfect time, then, for revisiting terrifying British horror story The Woman in Black. It's re-opening in the unnervingly intimate surrounds of Ensemble Theatre on October 30, just in time for the spooky season.
The original novel by Susan Hill, published in 1983, relays the eerie tale of a young lawyer haunted by the memory of his supernatural experience while dealing with the estate of the late Mrs. Drablow, who died alone in the desolate surrounds of Eel Marsh House. A TV movie followed six years later, and Harry Potter alumnus Daniel Radcliffe appeared in a big screen version in 2012.The stage play, adapted by Stephen Mallatratt, went on to terrify audiences on London’s West End, where it soon became the second-longest show to ever run there.
Now Sydneysiders have another chance to test if they have the mettle to make it through without screaming. Mark Kilmurry directs this staging with Rachel Chant as assistant director. Jamie Oxenbould (Baby Doll) is the lawyer Mr Kipps, and Garth Holcombe (Tribes) is the actor he hires to tell his tale and hopefully exorcise his demons. Prepare to watch through your fingers. “When I saw the original production, I remember jumping out of my skin at a certain point in the play in a scare I really didn’t see coming,” Kilmurry says. “But apart from the jumps and scares this is a beautifully written thriller, clever, smart and fabulously entertaining.”