- On the 14th June, I went with my girlfriend to see the critically-acclaimed long running “scare-fest”, The Woman in Black at the Fortune Theatre. Although I desperately wanted to like the play, I thought it was understated, slow and poorly developed.
- Without giving away the plot, the basic premise of the play is thus: a lawyer is given the job of clearing out the estate of a recently deceased lady. Of course this in itself would not be enough to fill a play, falling slightly short of 2 hrs. The entire story is told by the now older lawyer to a playwright/writer, with the intention of making his story commercial. Although this, as a device is quite interesting, the constant interruption of the “ghost story” narrative with the focus on meta-fictionality proves quite distracting, and doesn’t allow for the story to be properly developed.
- By the end of the first act, I was feeling extremely underwhelmed. One thing that struck me was the fact there was no climax. Furthermore, I had heard it was supposed to be a chilling ghost-story, and there was up to that point (55 minutes in) no ghost in it. Please don’t misunderstand me- i am not adverse to a good old bit of exposition, but this is Woman in Black’s main shortcoming. Too much exposition, not enough showing.
- The scares in it felt cheap. Just shouting, lights getting turned out, and people appearing on stage, who were not previously noticeable. I think this can be attributed to the emotional vapidity that prevails throughout. This, consequently results in the last third of the play doing too much explaining, and not enough tidying up.
- Saying all of this, I can imagine that the book is very good. I might read it at one point when the disappointment of the play is not so fresh in my mind.
- Another gripe I had about the play, is the location. I spotted at least three ripped seats in the upper circle and the seats were extremely uncomfortable. I am not one to complain, but if a theatre insists on charging top prices, it should maintain basic standards conducive with quality performances.
- My girlfriend was impressed by the acting…. It didn’t strike me as particularly brilliant, but this is most probably because I thought play overall was rather insipid.
- 2 stars/5
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philipreviews 
I agree. I enjoyed the play, but similarly felt underwhelmed in light of the hype surrounding the play itself. I think if it’s the “scares” that people are after, they should go and see a play like Deathtrap, or even Verdict (see my blog – http://www.londonlibrarygirl.blogspot.com for a write up of the latter) – you would definitely leave feeling more satisfied than I did at the end of the Woman in Black’s performance.
I have to add, however, that the play was very atmospheric, and the acting extremely good (especially as the play relies on just two actors to carry the plot forward for almost 2 hours!) I’m pleased I went, but am perhaps more relieved that I only paid £12 for my ticket!