Do ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy-beasties get your adrenaline going? Then McCarter’s latest sensation is tailor-made for you. “The Woman in Black” by Susan Hill has been adapted for the stage in this production originally mounted in London and it has been running for more than 30 years. Adapted by Stephen Mallatratt and under the expert direction of Robin Herford, the actors you see will depend upon the evening you attend. The cast I saw included Antony Eden as The Actor and Ben Porter as Arthur Kipps. Porter turns about to play The Actor when working with David Acton as Kipps so whomever you see, the impact will activate your galvanic skin response. This show is replete with good old-fashioned stage craft to activate the thrills and chills that make a good scare entertaining.
These actors hearken back to the days of telling fireside stories. They create an closeness that draws us into the darkness – both of the room and of the tale. I attended on, literally, a dark and stormy night and the story is enthralling. The furniture is multipurpose and it is easy to imagine being in Edwardian England when people were a little less jaded and a bit more in touch with how thin the veil remains between this world and the next.
Anshuman Bhatia’s lighting and Sebastian Frost’s sound design based on Rob Mead’s original sound is like pulling a tattered favorite shawl around the shoulders. Michael Holt’s design aesthetic is spot-on and with entrances and action happening all around you, ever seat in the house is brilliant. Give yourself a gift that only grows in recollection, yet I felt safe in my modern experience of Princeton to walk to my car under generous street lights.
The Woman in Black runs only through October 29 only. For happiest haunting, make your run to contact the box office NOW at www.McCarter.org.