Time to scare yourself silly at the theatre

The Woman in Black arrives in Plymouth next week (Nov 4-8) as part of its UK tour. Acclaimed author of the original novel, Dame Susan Hill, explains in this Q&A how she came up with the spooky story, and what it's like seeing your work told on stage.

- Janet King

THE Woman in Black ran for an incredible 33 years in the West End, and is now touring the UK again. Did you anticipate the show would have such a long life when it first opened?

A: Oh no, we thought it would run for six weeks! It opened in Scarborough in 1988, and it started because they had a pantomime on in the theatre and Alan Ayckbourn, who was the Artistic Director, wanted to have something to put into the studio theatre alongside the pantomime.

Stephen Mallatratt went on holiday and at the airport he picked up The Woman in Black. He was then lying on a beach in Greece and thought he could make this work on the stage. When he wrote to me asking if he could adapt it I thought it was mad, but it’s a truly remarkable piece of theatre.

Q: Were you nervous about handing over your story to a new team when you were originally approached about adapting the novel to the stage?

A: Not at all! The play is very true to the book and yet simultaneously very different by nature of being a piece of theatre. It works brilliantly in theatrical terms and it is still my book, but it is also not - and that is exciting.

Q: What was it like, the first time you saw your characters appearing in the flesh on stage?

A: The Woman in Black herself very much existed in my mind, I knew what she felt like, so it is very peculiar to feel her presence in a theatre. The two gentlemen are such brilliantly developed characters and utilised so well by Stephen’s writing for the stage that they become quite different. I’m always interested to see new actors taking it over, because although it is the same text, every pair of actors bring something different to it, it really does change!

Q: Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation utilises some very traditional theatrical techniques in very innovative ways. Does the play capture the atmosphere of Eel Marsh House the way you envisioned it?