The Woman in Black at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre Review
Reviewed by Emma Legge
I adore the theatre! I go absolutely any opportunity I get. But it wasn’t until I was sat in my seat with a good smidgen of trepidation for what we were about to watch that I realised I rarely watch anything that isn’t a musical. And the main reason for that is that we’ve all heard of many of the musicals, have them recommended to us by friends and family or have seen many of them on the TV. So when I heard about The Woman in Black, I jumped at the chance, having never had the opportunity to watch the film version, but had indeed heard of the storyline. My friends, who know me for the wimp that I am, all laughed when they heard I was off to see a horror, but I smugly replied that a stage show can only be a certain amount of scary… right?!
The atmosphere is set as you sit in the theatre awaiting the start. The curtain is up allowing you to view the stage, the bare floor boards, ripped curtains and general gloominess giving you a feel of eeriness from the very beginning.
You are introduced to the only two actors, aside of course from The Woman in Black, from the very start. Superbly acted by David Acton and Matthew Spencer, I do not believe that you can come away from seeing this play without a sense of awe for the acting talents of these two men. Acton’s ability to make you forget he’s acting that he can’t act is truly admirable and both men lure you into their roles and characters perfectly.
The play has a slow start, and I mean that not in a derogatory way, but there’s a good amount of scene setting and being introduced to the characters. This part was the ‘calm before the storm,’ the part where I sat there satisfied that my nerves would not at all be in tatters by the end, fingernails all intact too. However, I had not bargained on the superb simplicity and expertise of the sound effects and lighting coupled with faultless acting skills, leaving most people jumping from their seats – in fact during the second half, the lady in front of me, during one particularly spine tingling part, ducked her head in her seat, covered it with her hands and shouted ‘No!’
Talking about the first half with my husband during the interval, we realised that we were being encouraged to use our own imaginations to read more into the scenes. It was these imaginations that had me, not quite drawing blood in my husband’s hand with my nails, each time Spencer opened THE DOOR on stage or when he was sleeping in the house, or when he was outside in the marshes. And this is just what the director of the play, Robin Herford is aiming for. He says, ‘Audiences are expected to work, to play their part in furthering the story by means of their own imaginations.’ And that’s just what I feel like I’ve done, I’ve worked hard, been on tenterhooks for a few hours and left the theatre with brain in overdrive, imagining further scenes after the cliff hanger ending. This is a far cry from the feel-good, bounce in the step shows I so enjoy but I have gained a sense of enjoyment in the challenge of the storyline and the emotions that it invokes within me and most definitely in the extraordinary acting and admirable stage effects.
Now, honestly, this is not the kind of stage show I would choose to see all that often, it’s going to take me a good while to stop the spooked feeling when I go upstairs on my own! But if you’re someone who is quite happy to be scared out of their wits, then this spine tingling horror show is one I urge you to see.
Rating: 4/5
Tickets cost from £19.50 to £31.50 (booking fees may apply).
The Woman in Black is at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from 22-27 May 2017, for more information or to book tickets visit www.grandtheatre.co.uk or call the box office on 01902 429 212.
The Grand Theatre Wolverhampton, Lichfield Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1DE
