The Woman in Black - Fortune Theatre

Review Summary

Average Rating: 4.2 out of 5 stars based on 28 review(s)



Latest Review: "Wonderful evening spent watching this amazing preformance. Described to me as a ghost story, I we..."

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Age Restriction: Recommended for ages 8 and over. Under 5s will not be admitted. Parental guidance advised.

This is a powerful, bleak and intense production which combines live theatre with the cinematic quality of film noir.  It follows in the tradition of the ghost story and yet it is not a ghost or horror story as we would imagine it.  It does however use the devices of atmosphere, tension and shadowy goings on to create a certain uneasy and spine-chilling experience.

It is set on England’s bleak and unforgiving east coast, around the flat salt marshes beyond the Nine Lives causeway.  In this harsh setting is a house called Eel Marsh House.  It is a tall, forbidding structure which is also isolated and so does not invite visitors or casual callers.

A Mrs Alice Drablow lived  all alone here and has recently died, again all alone.  A junior solicitor called Arthur Kipps is sent by the senior partners in his firm to attend to all the subsequent legal matters.  He travels up from London to attend her funeral before tackiling the relevant paperwork.

This is a lonely task and at first he is unaware of what really went on behind those shuttered windows.  The only feeling he is aware of is that of a sense of unease.  During the funeral he spots a young woman dressed all in black with a pinched, and drawn face who later appears in the graveyard at the side of the house.  Who is puzzled by her and so asks questions from the locals but they are extremely reticent about her existence, and as it turns out with good reason.

So, Kipps decides to find out for himself and waits until he sees her again.  She duly appears and gradually reveals her identity to him and her terrible purpose.  

This tale follows in the footsteps of such esteemed writers as Charles Dickens, Henry James and Edith Wharton.  It will leave you on edge throughout before leading you to a blood-curdling climax.  Not a tale for those of a sensitive disposition. 

IT was first performed back in 1987 to rave reviews.  It then went to the West End where it has been a major attraction for audiences ever since.  It has also attracted global acclaim in the US, South America and Japan to name but a few.