Not sure how long The Woman in Black has been running on the West End but I daresay it has been around for quite some time. To be honest for a long time I kept confusing this with the Andrew Lloyd musical The Woman in White which people assured me had nothing to do whatsoever with this play. At any rate The Woman in White is now long gone and tonight was the time for The Woman in Black.

The Woman in Black is a thriller that will have some of you jumping out of your seat with fright and possibly squealing just a little bit, though I must say I was surprised to find out I wasn’t really in either of those categories.

This play is very smartly written to deliver maximum story and maximum characters with a core cast of only two males and one female (who will obviously play the Woman in Black.) Basically, a young aspiring solicitor receives instructions to clean up the estate of a recently deceased woman. At first he is positively enthusiastic about the experience but soon finds out that all is not as it seems in her mysterious house which is located in a very remote and spooky part of the town. Soon he too falls victim to the curses and the ghost of the house. Many many years later he seeks to exorcise this ghost by telling his story. What we see is his rehearsal of the story with the aid of a director who more than brings the tale to life.

I must say I was very impressed with the play. Although the first half dragged on a bit it gets so much more exciting. The actors were brilliant and the set was amazingly adaptable to all the varying scenes required to tell the tale. The sound effects definitely play their part and an active imagination will also help you enjoy the play. Is it awful to admit it was funny to see people literally jump from their seat and also scream in fright? The nervous giggle from them afterwards was even funnier.

Overall a good enjoyable play that I’m happy to recommend.