The Woman in Black - Fortune Theatre / UK & Ireland tour

I love The Woman in Black, I think it's an absolutely terrific piece of theatre. It bothers me NO end when people say "oh, The Woman in Black is rubbish, I wasn't scared at all". I mean, fear is incredibly subjective, and what I find terrifying (haunted houses!) isn't going to be what other people find terrifying (demonic possession, global disaster, serial killers, whatever). People get VERY stuck in the idea that the horror genre *has* to be scary to be any good, and that's a very simplistic and unfair way to write off genuinely good work. Stephen Mallatratt took a run-of-the-mill spooky story with dozens of characters and found a way to thoroughly theatricalise it with a teeny-tiny budget-friendly cast. As Kipps learns how theatre works, so too the audience gets a little insight along with a solid example of getting thoroughly sucked in, and ultimately having the fourth-wall boundaries shaken in a way you just don't get with any other medium.

It would be SUPER great if The Powers That Be could consider a little more diversity in casting though. The Actor is an Actor and half the point of the show is that theatre is non-literal, so even if Kipps always has to be a middle-aged white man (which I don't think he does), there's really no reason in this the twenty-first century to continue casting the Actor as a younger white man.

(I think it's okay for a thirty year old production not to have any "hype" or "buzz" though, it seems to be doing just fine as is. )

I really want to see it.

I am also an enormous wimp. I'd probably cry.

Same with Ghost Stories, when it comes back I would love to see it but my nerves will not take it haha.

I love this play for what it is, don't expect groundbreaking theatre though.

Coincidentally I've heard stories this theatre is in fact haunted by a woman in black...so ironic!

I've seen it once, fairly recently and I thought it was brilliant! I want to go back! I was also lucky enough to see it without an interval, and that made the experience alot better than with an interval!

I saw the tour a few years ago but haven't seen it in town. A few of my friends have been called back for it again and again. I should really book to see it in town.

Being someone terrified of loud noises that alone scares me with this one. Being a lover of spooky tales is enough for me to love it though. On par with the book and much better than the movie, I think.

The Turn of the Screw at the Almeida was petrifying. I watched most of it with my glasses off and I still screamed.

I was terrified at Deathtrap the first time I saw it. Just for the shock factor!

Saw this years ago when it was touring. I know I've told this before but my husband fell asleep and woke with a start at the cart & horses & screaming.- He caused all around us to laugh. I've never taken him to the theatre since! I should imagine the actors were cursing him. The book is absolutely terrific. Very atmospheric. I leant it to a lady I worked with who was into horror stories & she couldn't put it down.

I've seen this a couple of times and can join the "not impressed" gang. It's probably a tricky theatre to fill with viable productions, so I suspect the owners hope it'll stick about for a long time yet.

Yes, sorry, probably the wrong use of vocab! Hmm.. interesting, I had never really considered that but now you mention it, it would definitely be interesting to see!

So put me in the disappointed camp. Really great performances but it is a very predictable story so if you aren't scared there is no twist to keep you there.

Saw quite a lot of walk outs too, which makes me wonder what they were expecting.

I don't get it. Even if they were extremely cheap/comp tix one couple couldn't even wait for the interval to leave. I got the impression when I saw them picking up their tickets that they didn't come to the theatre much,which makes their behaviour even odder.

We were in the dress circle so I wonder if it was a view thing or they were expecting a bigger production.

I saw this a few months ago and it was pretty much what I expected. Some moments where I stuck my fingers in my ears (you could pretty much anticipate the loud noises and things jumping out), but there was fairly decent suspense built*.

Then last week I decided to spend a few nights in Maldon, only to learn that nearby Osea Island was the inspiration for the island setting. I decided NOT to walk out there during low tide, so maybe the play was more effective than I thought!

(*A large school group was attending, and their reactions were more startling than what happened on stage, since they screamed very loudly when things happened. And then dissolved into giggles in reaction.)

One of those I plays I always wanted to see one day, but always found something more interesting. Several years ago I went to The Mousetrap and two years ago to this. Both are in the 'glad I've seen it but need never to see it again'-camp. Find it more of a miracle Mousetrap is still running, I remember a few bored pensioners at the matinee while Woman in Black was fairly full, lots of teenagers...probably something to do with Mousetrap not discounting at all, while Woman is on TKTS And Mousetrap has a massive cast compared to this...