The Woman in Black – Storyhouse, Chester

Director: Robin Herford

Writer: Susan Hill

Adaptor: Stephen Mallatratt

Jumping out of your seat seems to be the norm for audiences of The Woman in Black, especially for those who succumb to the brilliant storytelling of the two-handers on the stage at Chester’s Storyhouse theatre.

Adapted from the 1983 novel by Stephen Mallatratt, this production, directed by Robin Herford invites the audience to use their imagination as they wait to see the story unfold.

John Mackay, as Mr Kipps, begins his tale in a somewhat haphazard fashion, hiring the Actor (Daniel Burke) in the hope that he can portray the story well enough to bring him some closure. Mr Kipps is bumbling and awkward in comparison to the Actor’s commanding personality, before eventually taking on the characters within his own gothic ghost story.

The first 15 minutes of the show take time to warm up, with the Actor prompting Kipps to deliver his lines more clearly and with greater enthusiasm, leaving the real-life audience perhaps slightly restless due to the length of the setup.

A simplistic stage is all it takes to transport Mr Kipps to Eel Marsh Manor, where he serves as solicitor to the recently deceased Alice Drablow, tasked with sorting out her affairs. The manor sits on an island that can only be reached at low tide; its dull, dark presence looms over everything beneath it despite being nothing more than a shadow cast upon a curtain. Yet it works.

With the effectiveness of the minimalistic set, a wicker basket becomes a bed and a carriage, chairs become a train, and one room becomes five. A wide sheet of gauze cuts the stage in half, serving as a liminal barrier between the world of the living and the realm of the dead, highlighted by spotlights and appearances of the mysterious woman. Smoke machines only add to the illusion, with flashes of deep red lighting or, at times, clinical white that casts shadows across the theatre.

Mr Kipps busies himself with his duties day by day, even as the darkness steadily closes in. From the first glimpse of a strange figure dressed in black to the sound of distant tapping on the floorboards, the manor slowly reveals its skeletons to him. Mackay portrays an excellent range of characters, from an old Scottish solicitor to the local pony-and-trap driver Keckwick, each one memorable and with humour to boot.

Overall, The Woman in Black remains a fantastic example in how theatre can terrify through suggestion rather than spectacle, with Mackay making a particularly brilliant Mr Kipps. With its stripped-back staging, ingenious technical flourishes, and two commanding performances, it lures the audience into a world where imagination does half the work and fear does the rest. A simple but effective ghost story, and one that everyone should experience.

Runs until 27 September 2025