The Woman in Black

A couple of years ago my wife and I visited Devon and Cornwall, England. We only had two weeks and there's enough to do in that part of the country to easily keep one busy for a couple of years. Anyone who has become a fan of Martin Clunes in the Doc Martin series will know what I'm talking about. Both counties are places of great natural beauty. Well, we stayed in Plymouth at the head of its harbor and took day trips. In some ways it was a genealogical quest looking for my wife's ancestors, and we found where many of them had lived out their lives. I especially liked the gloomy part of Devon known as Dartmoor National Park. I now can easily visualize in my mind's eye the moors where the Hound of the Baskervilles roamed.

In the opposite direction, along the southwest coast's rugged shoreline, we made an effort to visit Penzance and spent a morning on St. Michael's Mount. It is a castle in the harbor that can be visited by foot only at low tide. At all other times, one must hire a boatman to get there. It is a pleasant adventure but the sunken road always beckons. It is one of those sublimely English things. It reminded me of a play I'd seen in London years before when I was teaching my theatre class there. The photo below is of St. Michael's Mount looking back towards the village of Marazion.

I do not believe in ghosts, I do not believe in ghosts, I do not believe in ghosts...

The Woman in Black is now a rich old nugget of a play that has been running since 1989 at the Fortune Theatre on Russell Street, Covent Garden, London. It is opposite the Theatre Royal on the Stage Door side. From a teaching point of view there are many reasons to book this play for an inexperienced, younger theatre group. First, it is one of the best ghost stories I've ever encountered. Secondly, the entire play is acted by only two performers -- much is left to the imagination and the pressure for a superb performance every evening is palpable. Thirdly, the Fortune Theatre, which first opened in 1924 is quaint; it is the second-smallest theatre venue in the West End, seating only 432 patrons. One steps back in time at the Fortune, and the dimly lit theatre lends itself perfectly to the long-running play. Usually, it plays to a sold out audience.

The play began as a novel written by the award-winning writer Susan Hill in 1983. By 1989 it had been adapted for the stage by Stephen Mallatratt. Mallatratt was also involved in Coronation Street, The Forsyte Saga, and appeared in Chariots of Fire and Brideshead Revisited.

As many of you will already know, Daniel Radcliffe has been cast as Arthur Kipps, a young solicitor in the newly released film. I will not divulge much more except to say that the scene has now changed to the northeast of England in Crythin Gifford at the Nine Lives Causeway, another one of those low tide only roads. I plan for old times sake to view the movie this evening at the Roxy in Potsdam. It is Radcliffe's first feature film since The Deathly Hallows, Part II. Roger Ebert says that the young actor lacks the gravitas to pull off the part completely, but then notes that the central characters are the house and the woman in black. For the official trailer, go here: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n96ecWNkFhU>. On the basis of my experiences with this tale of dread, I would recommend it to you regardless.

So now I'll tell you an anecdote about one of my students sitting in the Fortune Theatre watching the action unfolding before him. Back then I often glanced up and down the theatre rows to see how my students were reacting. This young man, sitting on the aisle was transfixed.

At a critical moment in the action, the woman in black -- expected to appear on stage -- is suddenly seen IN the aisle adjacent to the young man. She brushes against him, by design I am doubtful. Regardless, I have never heard a louder gasp or seen a higher jump (at least a foot) as the incident instantly unfolded. The woman in black then proceeded noiselessly down the aisle and disappeared into the orchestra pit, designed for this show to look like a crypt. The student was a complete wreck.

Even post-play, the poor young fellow was still coming to his senses. There was not the slightest bit of teasing -- there but for the grace of God, etc. Everyone had been as frightened as he. Later, at the pub, we all took a solemn oath to keep our silence. Whoops, I just broke it.

At any rate, I don't know what to expect this evening. I think movie audiences have been bludgeoned to death by bad horror movies. I hope The Woman in Black will rise above the rabble. If it doesn't I'd encourage you to visit London, go to The Fortune and see it live, as it was meant to be viewed.

Carry on,

Paul in Potsdam
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