Do you believe in ghosts?
Regardless of your opinions on the paranormal, you’ll be glancing over your shoulder as you leave the theatre after The Sutherland Theatre Company’s upcoming production of the classic ghost story THE WOMAN IN BLACK.
Based on Susan Hill’s gothic horror novel of the same name, The Woman in Black is a gripping ghost story set in a dusty old theatre.
Arthur Kipps, a middle-aged solicitor, engages the services of a professional actor to help him re-enact a ghostly event that he experienced many years before at a deceased client’s old manor house in the English countryside. From the cluttered stage, Kipps begins to read his story: painfully, self-consciously and hesitantly at first, but gradually increasing in confidence.
The actor is enthusiastic and passionate, taking on the role of a young Kipps for the purpose of the performance. But as the two men delve deeper into the spine-chilling events that befell Kipps during his time at Eel Marsh House, the actor gradually realises that not all ghost stories are works of fiction.
In his second show with The Sutherland Theatre Company, Anthony White will play the reluctant storyteller Arthur Kipps.
Dirk Strachan-Thornton is to play the self-assured actor whom he hires to help bring his story to the stage.
Mallatratt’s adaption has been seen by millions of people worldwide and has been running on the West End for 27 years.
Director Belinda Balhatchet was drawn to the play’s use of simple theatrical techniques, rather than a detailed set, to bring the story to life.
“Nowadays, big budget productions can create almost anything on stage. Audiences don’t have to use their imagination as much as they used to because everything is created before them through lavish sets and huge casts. This show is the complete opposite. With a cast of two and an incredibly simple set, The Woman in Black relies on the talent of the cast and the imagination of the audience to create an atmosphere of tension and horror.”
Belinda knew that the Sutherland Memorial School of Arts was the perfect venue for the show.
“The School of Arts is a relatively small theatre in an old building. It fits the theme of the show perfectly, and the small size of the theatre puts the audience right in the middle of the action.”
THE WOMAN IN BLACK will be playing for a strictly limited season at the Sutherland Memorial School of Arts from May 26-28. Performance times are Friday 26 May @ 8pm, Saturday 27 May @ 2pm, Saturday 27 May @ 8pm, Sunday 28 May @ 2pm.
Tickets can be booked online via TryBooking: http://bit.ly/stcwomaninblack. Alternatively phone bookings can be made on 91507574.
For more about The Woman in Black, visit http://www.thesutherlandtheatrecompany.com.au/index.htm
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