The Woman in Black

Stephen Mallatratt, from the book by Susan Hill

PW Productions

Storyhouse, Chester

Sept 24-27, 2025; 2 hrs

(also at Darlington Hippodrome, January 6-10, 2-26; Grand Opera House York, January 13-17; Liverpool Playhouse, February 24-28; Bradford Alhambra, March 17-21)

John Mackay (left) as Kipps and Daniel Burke as the Actor in The Woman in Black. All pics: Mark Douet

How scary is The Woman in Black? Having played over 13,000 times in the West End and on countless tours here and abroad, the reputation of this show goes before it. But is it really "spinechilling"? 

Well, maybe not. But it is an engrossing story that holds your attention to its speculative end.

Kipps, a solicitor, has a dry version of his strange story, and goes to a young actor to best know how to tell it. The Actor suggests acting it out, taking the part of the young Kipps while the author plays all the surrounding characters and narrates. 

The tale begins with Kipps visiting the house of a deceased reclusive widow, Mrs Drablow, to sort through her papers. At the funeral and several times afterwards, he appears to see a woman in black, her face wasting away. As he reads the widow's papers he finds out who this woman is – Mrs Drablow's sister, Jennet, who attempted to run away from her family.

Jennet had a child born outside of marriage, and the family was forcing her to give it up for adoption by her sister. As she flees, an accident sees her child thrown from the pony and trap and dies. Heartbroken, so does Jennet, but she returns to haunt the place: anyone who sees her will suffer the death of a child in their family. This fate had occurred to Kipps; would it now happen to the Actor?

John Mackay as Kipps and Daniel Burke as the Actor are the only two listed players, the Woman remaining anonymous, to add to her mystery. To hold everyone's attention and cultivate an air of suspense is no mean feat, but is something achieved quite naturally. But the story is at times carried by quite long stretches of narrative.

The set for the play is an old theatre, which doubles nicely as a down-at-heel mansion, gloomy with plenty of dark shadows, assisted by minimalistic lighting to create a haunting, oppressive atmosphere.   

The point of Gothic literature is often to state that life is not all neat and tidy, but can be punctuated by irrational or violent events. This play fulfils that, but there is more. The Woman in Black is just one fictional example of countless women who had a child taken away to preserve a family’s dignity and reputation - a cruel act that was often dismissed as hysteria and could even land the bereft woman in an asylum.

Susan Hill’s book makes the point that such an event can haunt a family and its small community for many years. Whether you view The Woman in Black in that light, or just as an evening's scary entertainment, it remains a rattling good play - even after 13,000 performances.

More info and tickets here