The Woman in Black Tickets

One of the spookiest plays in the West End, 'The Woman in Black' has been thrilling London audiences for almost twenty years with it's hauntingly enjoyable tale. Based on the novel by Susan Hill (which has also been adapted into a television film), the play originally opened in Scarborough at the Theatre-by-the-Sea in 1987. It's success was unsurprising - everyone loves a good ghost story - and the play opened a few short years later in February 1989 at the Strand Theatre in London. It later moved to the Fortune Theatre in 1990, where it remains to this day. The adaptation, written by Stephen Mallatratt, stays true to Susan Hill's story but adds dramatic effects to further startle the audience - appearances of the mysterious woman in black in aisles and unoccupied seats are all part of the show. 'The Woman in Black' has been directed by Robin Herford since it's opening and continues to be produced by P.W. Productions.

The story is told through a framework established at the beginning of the play. An elderly Arthur Kipps employs a young actor to perform a true story experienced by Arthur in his own youth. Arthur hopes that in doing so he will gain some closure and perhaps lay the mystery of the woman in black to rest forever. Unfortunately it appears that the woman in black cannot be tamed, and as Arthur's story unfolds it seems the tragic circumstances may repeat themselves once again.

Arthur's story opens with the younger version of himself - a junior solicitor - being sent to a remote location on the east coast of England to settle the last will and testament of a widow, Mrs Alice Drablow. Her home, Eel Marsh House, is strangely foreboding, with shuttered windows and a sparse surrounding landscape. At high tide the house - situated as it is on a causeway - is cut off from the mainland. Arthur is ordered by his firm to first attend Mrs Drablow's funeral before executing her legal will. At the funeral, Arthur is shocked when he sees a mysterious young lady draped in black standing aloof from the rest of the funeral party - her face, wasted and twisted, has an unearthly spectre. Arthur begins to suspect that something is amiss and that there may be more to Mrs Drablow and her spooky house than meets the eye. Beginning to look around the house more closely, Arthur becomes unsettled when mysterious noises and incidents occur. He is further startled when he spots the woman in black standing in the graveyard that sits adjacent to Eel Marsh House. Convinced that something is wrong, and knowing that he was not the only person to see her at the funeral - several children observed her presence in silence - Arthur begins to ask questions of the local townspeople. Who is the woman in black? Did anything strange happen at Eel Marsh House? Was Mrs Drablow a liked member of the community, or a recluse? The townspeople refuse to answer his questions.

Eventually, after pursuing both the woman in black and doggedly questioning the townspeople, Arthur Kipps pieces together the story. Mrs Drablow once had a sister, Jennet, who fell pregnant out of wedlock and gave birth to a young boy. Mrs Drablow and her husband adopted the boy and decreed that he would never know that Jennet was his biological mother. After attempting to leave the area and distract herself with travel, Jennet realized that she could not bear to be separated from her son and instead made an agreement with her sister that she would live in Eel Marsh House with the family providing she promised never to tell the boy the truth. Obeying this instruction for some time, Jennet secretly conspired to run away with her son at the first opportunity. Unfortunately, one afternoon as Jennet was watching from an upstairs window, a carriage carrying her son towards Eel Marsh House became disorientated in the fog on the causeway and as the tide rose the horse, carriage and everyone on board drowned. Devastated, Jennet died sometime later, at which point strange hauntings began to occur at Eel Marsh House. The townspeople warn Arthur Kipp that to see the woman in black means that the death of a loved child will soon occur. Arthur, desperate to get away from the spooky surroundings, completes his legal requirements and flees back to London. Later, after having married and had a child of his own, Arthur sees the woman in black again - the death of his own wife and child shortly follow.

The present cast includes Sean Baker as Arthur Kipps and Ben Porter as 'The Actor' (hired in the play by the elderly Arthur Kipps to act out his story). Although the Fortune Theatre is presently only taking bookings until the 20th of December 2008, it is expected the show will continue to be extended; a tour throughout the United Kingdom is also on the cards.