The Woman in Black

There was also something slightly jarring about his appearance that I couldn’t quite put my finger on; perhaps the contemporary haircut, crisp white shirt with braces, and fedora with a turned-up brim. It all felt somewhat out of place in evoking the Edwardian spirit one might expect, yet also somewhat fitting.

After the interval, the lights rise on Jerome sleeping on the floor. I found this amusing at first, assuming it was a playful nod to The Mousetrap; it turned out he was simply asleep. It felt like a strange staging choice, had we truly needed him to be sleeping, it might have made more sense for him to do so at his desk, represented by the oversized wicker basket.  This basket, however, is used ingeniously throughout the production, as a cart, a train carriage, a desk, a storage box, and even a bed with each transformation handled seamlessly with the action of the play.

The Woman in Black herself features more prominently than I would have preferred. There were several moments where the audience could clearly see the white and black makeup, reducing the sense of mystery and unease. A few fleeting glimpses would have been far more effective. One scene, where she appears under a pulsating strobe, looked striking but again removed some of the intrigue.

A pre-recorded vocal collage was used to build atmosphere; while the deep, rumbling bass certainly added tension, the vocal layering itself felt unnecessary and could have been used to cover a scene change.