The haunt is over – Woman in Black’s London run to end
The Woman in Black, the ghost story which started life as a play in Scarborough, is to close in London’s West End after 33 years and more than 13,000 performances. The chilling drama, adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from Susan Hill’s 1983 novel, will play its final performance at the Fortune theatre in the West End on March 4.
A popular production for school trips, The Woman in Black “has given generations of young people the opportunity to experience the enjoyment and the life-changing impact of theatre,” said Hill.
Its producer, Peter Wilson, said: “The Woman in Black’s miraculous theatricality has never faltered. Out of a gauze, a wicker skip and a door, Stephen Mallatratt and [director] Robin Herford conjured a complete world into which generations of young people have entered, surrendering to the ultimate magic of theatre: their own imaginations.
"However, the economic reality of attracting so many young people has caught up with us in a world of rising prices.”
The play was first performed as the low-budget Christmas offering in the bar of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in 1987. It was revived at the venue in 1997 with a then little-known actor Martin Freeman, star of The Office sitom and the Hobbit films, as the Actor. Father and son Chris and Tom Godwin, directed again by Robin Herford, starredd in the 2015 revival.
The play arrived at the Fortune Theatre in 1989 after playing earlier that year at the Lyric Hammersmith, the Strand – now Novello – and the Playhouse theatres.
“The Fortune has been a very happy London home for this play,” said Herford, “its intimacy providing not only the right scale and atmosphere for the action, but also a treat for the audience in appreciating this West End jewel with its classic art deco architecture.”
The play is a model of suspense created with minimal means and has a credited cast of two: Julian Forsyth stars as Arthur Kipps and Matthew Spencer plays The Actor. The Woman in Black is the second longest-running straight play – as opposed to musical – in London. Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, the world’s longestrunning play, is celebrating its 70th anniversary.