The Woman in Black

The acclaimed stage version of Susan Hill's thriller The Woman in Black in London

The lawyer, Mr Kipps, is obsessed with the belief that he and his family have been cursed by the Woman in Black. In an attempt to exorcise the evil, he engages a sceptical young actor to help him tell his terrifying story. It all begins innocently enough, but then, as the story begins to unfold, the borders between memory and reality begin to blur and the flesh begins to creep...

One of the most exciting, gripping and successful theatre events ever staged. Unanimously acclaimed by the critics, Stephen Mallatratt's stage adaptation of Susan Hill's bestselling novel combines the power and intensity of live theatre with a cinematic quality inspired by the world of film noir.

Directed by Robin Herford, designs by Michael Holt, lighting by Kevin Sleep, and sound by Rod Mead and Sebastian Frost.

NOTE: Due to the COVID-19 situation, this production closed on 14 March 2020, and reopened from 7 September 2021.

The cast for two-hander production changes regularly, around every nine-months. Amongest the over 80 actors that have played the two roles in the West End are Frank Windsor in 1991, Edward Petherbridge in 1993, Joseph Fiennes in 1993, Frank Finlay in 1993 and 1999, Mark Curry in 1994, Michael Grandage (better known today as a theatre director) in 1994, Barry Stanton in 1995, Martin Freeman in 1997, and the play's director, Robin Herford, has played two seasons in 2004 and 2011. Christopher Godwin first played 'Mr Kipps' in 1999, and returned to the role in 2015, when he played opposite his son 'Tom Godwin' as 'The Actor' - the first, and only, father-and-son to play these two roles opposite each other in the West End. In addition a Japanese-language production was presented here at the Fortune Theatre for five performances, from Tuesday 9 to Saturday 13 September 2008, with Haruhiko Saito as 'Mr Kipps' and Takaya Kamikawa as 'The Actor' - this replaced the English-language version for the week.

"State-of-the-art theatre it ain't... What adapter Stephen Mallatratt and director Robin Herford have done is take Susan Hill's eerie ghost story, provide it with a cunningly theatrical frame, exert the inescapable grip of great storytelling and send shock waves through the auditorium with splendid thrills and chills... By exposing the process of adaptation, Mallatratt and Herford engage the audience still further, forcing them to do what audiences love best: work. The evening is a textbook example of the willing suspension of disbelief. Instead of sitting back and merely watching a story, we become utterly complicit in its unfolding... a marvellous exercise in spine-tingling tension, spun from perfectly paced storytelling and stagecraft." The Independent

"The show, cunningly adapated by Stephen Mallatratt from a novel by Susan Hill, is one of the most brilliantly effective spine-chillers you will ever encounter... As well as containing all the ingredients of a classic ghost story, complete with deserted mansion, haunted graveyards, and locals who don't dare breathe a word of the horrors they have witnessed, it also celebrates the imaginative possibilities of theatre itself... This is a classic example of less meaning more in the theatre. A change of coat means a different character, an old wicker props basket does duty for a desk, a train carriage and a horse and cart... Robin Herford's production builds up the tension with cruel and ingenious finesse. This is deliciously old-fashioned popular entertainment at its very best." The Daily Telegraph

"This adaption of Susan Hill's novel has been running at the Fortune Theatre, the passing years marked only by changes of cast. Those expecting that this long run means yet another West End techno-fest will be shocked to see the curtain open on a bare stage. For the next 90 minutes our attention is held by two actors, some basic sound effects and a few spine-chilling screams that will rivet you to your seat. This is drama at its simple best. It's a straightforward yarn, almost a pastiche of a Victorian ghost story... Perfectly spine-chilling." The Daily Mirror

The Woman in Black was originally commissioned by the play's director Robin Hereford in 1987: "In late summer of 1987, I was Artistic Director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, home of Alan Ayckbourn and his company. Ayckbourn himself was in London at the National Theatre on a two-year sabbatical, which provided me with the opportunity of running the theatre in his stead. For the final production of the season, I wanted to mount a play to run over Christmas in the theatre's seventy-seater studio auditorium, but I had only a very small amount of money left in my production budget and enough wages to pay for only four actors.
I tentatively approached my friend and resident playwright Stephen Mallatratt with a commission to write a play for the occasion, having due regard for my financial restrictions. I wanted a ghost story, and he could either adapt an existing tale or create an original one. After a day or two's thought, he suggested he might adapt Susan Hill's novel The Woman in Black.
I read the book, and was immediately impressed by its evocative power, but it had one drawback - a list of characters numbering about a dozen. Stephen seemed unperturbed, and proceeded to write me a two-handed play which not only solved my budgetary problems, but actually developed and enhanced the original premise of Susan's story. The production pleased audiences in Scarborough, and, a year later, I directed the first London production at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. The critics were kind to us, and as a result the play transferred to the Strand, then the Playhouse, and finally to the Fortune Theatre, where it has now been running for over fifteen years.
Little did I imagine that my cut-price stocking-filler from Scarborough would still be running in the West End, but on reflection it is the very economy of the production which is the chief reason for its continued success. Had I access to a more generous budget, providing the playwright with the potential for a larger cast and more lavish settings, we could have been in grave danger of losing the essential simplicity and innate theatricality with which we currently tell our story."

The Woman in Black in London opened at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre on 17 January 1989, closed 11 February 1989, transferred to the Strand Theatre (now Novello Theatre) from 15 February to 1 April 1989, transferred to the Playhouse Theatre from 18 April to 3 June 1989 and then transferred to the Fortune Theatre from 7 June 1989 to 14 March 2020, REOPENING to be announced.