Direct from London’s West End, the legendary production of Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black takes to the stage of Belfast’s Grand Opera House this month to simultaneously thrill and chill audiences with its ghostly tale. 

Obsessed with a curse that he believes has been cast over him and his family by the spectre of a Woman in Black, Arthur Kipps engages a sceptical young actor to help him tell his terrifying story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul.

Starring Malcolm James as Arthur Kipps and Mark Hawkins as The Actor, this touring production of The Woman In Black brings the misty marshes and creaking corridors of Eel Marsh House to life with little more than a few chairs, an old trunk and a locked door. Low lighting and smoke effects also help to create an unsettlingly spooky atmosphere on stage.

 

James and Hawkins do an exemplary job of flitting between characters without seeming chaotic or confusing. The few moments of comic relief peppered throughout the script are welcomed by the audience who enjoy a brief reprieve from the tension built throughout. 

The sparse stage set coupled with the fact that the two actors on stage have to play half a dozen characters between them means that everything is stripped back and it is the audience’s job to fill in the blanks with their imaginations, and that is the real beauty of this play; it allows your imagination to run wild, keeps you on the edge of your seat and leaves you just hoping that nothing jumps out of the shadows.

@pastiebapni

The Woman In Black is on at the Grand Opera House Belfast until 18th May. Here’s what I thought. #spooky #play #Belfast #Theatre

♬ Suara Seram Sangat Mencekam – Kholil Buitenzorg

 

To find out more information, or to buy tickets please visit The Grand Opera House website, here

 

Laura Caldwell

Author: Laura Caldwell

Hi, I'm Laura. I'm 30 years old and have a degree in Journalism with Photo-Imaging at the University of Ulster. I have an undying love for Belfast and all that it has to offer, an undying love for sleeping, Tegan and Sara, trashy tv shows, foreign snack-foods and being irresponsible with money. I also quite like origami, reading, jazz, hip-hop, dubstep, anything acoustic and Food Network TV. I've written for The Big List, Culture NI, Chatterbox and The Echo, as well as writing for BBC Across the Line.