Susan Hill (seen here with her new CBE in 2012) is the author of the novel The Woman in Black, since adapted for the stage by Stephen Mallatratt. Photo / Getty Images
Susan Hill (seen here with her new CBE in 2012) is the author of the novel The Woman in Black, since adapted for the stage by Stephen Mallatratt. Photo / Getty Images
Recently it was recommended that we look at the possibility of staging the Gothic horror / thriller The Woman in Black, so I've been doing a little research. It's an intriguing idea.
Based on Susan Hill's 1983 novel of the same name, The Woman in Black wasadapted for stage by Stephen Mallatratt in 1987.
It was certainly successful, becoming the second longest running play in West End history, quite unusual for a play that has only three actors. Since then The Woman in Black has been made into a movie starring Daniel Radcliffe, he of Harry Potter fame in a previous incarnation.
Set in Edwardian England, the play is narrated by an elderly gentleman, Arthur, who tells of his experiences as a young lawyer.
At the beginning of his professional life he went to a village to attend the funeral of a client and to sort out her legal matters. In the churchyard he spots a woman in black with a wasted face. Who is she? Everyone he asks either denies seeing her or responds with fear.
