The Woman in Black, Darlington Civic Theatre

THIS gripping new touring production of Susan Hill’s gothic ghost story has Matt Connor playing The Actor and Malcolm James as the ageing solicitor, Arthur Kipps, burdened by memories so terrible that he seeks to exorcise them through a telling of the tale.

Stephen Mallatratt’s brilliant adaptation of the novel is a play within a play which demonstrates the ability of theatre to suspend disbelief with a few makeshift props heightened by atmospheric sound and lighting effects.

The amusing opening sequences see the enthusiastic young actor vainly attempting to correct the lawyer’s doleful manner and mumbled delivery in the empty theatre where he plans a private performance before family and friends.

The Actor offers to play Kipps while his tetchy employer takes on all the other roles in his account of a ghostly encounter in his youth.

James, an accomplished character actor, is perfect in this respect and there is a wonderful illuminating moment when, as the exasperated lawyer, he dons a pair of spectacles and suddenly “gets” what it means to act a part.

Amid this theatricality and touches of comedy, with an unseen Mr Bunce handling the stage effects, the chilling tale takes off and unfolds against a backdrop of a remote mansion accessible only by a causeway, beset by swirling mist, frightening sounds and the appearance of a wraith-like figure in black who slips silently down the aisle and on to the stage for a moment.

The second half is intense, scary and extremely dark, literally and psychologically, with Connor as the stalwart young Kipps, bravely facing up to fleeting glimpses of the ghostly apparition and whatever lurks beyond a locked door in the shadows as vengeful horror threatens from beyond the grave.

Pru Farrier