The Woman in Black is a ghost story which has thrilled and scared audiences in London’s West End for the last 25 years.  It is a long way from a huge theatre production in the West End to the intimate space of the Pumphouse Theatre on the edges of Lake Pupuke in Auckland’s Northshore.  This production illustrates the challenges of making such an ambitious show in this environment. 

The Woman in Black is a play within a play.  It is modern, sophisticated theatre. The audience suspends disbelief as two actors play the ‘Actor’ (Zane Fleming) and the ‘Solicitor’ (Phil Peleton).  They then have to make the jump to the ‘Actor’ playing the solicitor and the ‘Solicitor’ playing all the other roles.  This is complex stuff in the best of circumstances.  

The premise is that the ‘Solicitor’ has a manuscript based on a personal story which he wishes to bring to life to free his inner demons.  He hires the ‘Actor’ to do this.  The story starts with scripts in hand and very quickly moves into full scenes of power and intensity.  The action moves from London to Crythin Gilford and the spooky Eel Marsh House where we meet a ghostly lady dressed in black (Tatiana Hotere, who strangely is not credited in the programme).  She never speaks and makes sudden and spooky appearances. She is the scary core of the production and could have been used even more to heighten the chill factor. 

This production is a shoe string one.  It makes use of simple props and limited special effects.  The actors move chairs and wicker baskets to become the settings they need for each scene.  There is excellent use of video images which certainly shock and cause screams in the audience. There is also a great audio mix soundtrack which paints scenes and big events – even a cute dog!

However there are so many opportunities to really scare an audience which are missing.  Theatre has the ability to be magical and surprise us with the unexpected.  This production is solid but unimaginative in its creative solutions. The Woman in Black is meant to be “an atmospheric chiller”.  Perhaps the crew should have visited ‘Spookers’ for inspiration.

Zane Fleming, fresh from his performance as Piggy in Lord of the Flies, is full of ‘actor’ energy and English articulation as the solicitor sent from London to attend the funeral of a very reclusive Mrs Drablow and sort out her personal papers.  He has visions of the ‘woman in black’ and the story becomes more complex.  It is a big performance which uses the ‘grand theatre’ style of performance. 

Phil Peleton the ‘Solicitor’ is an excellent actor.  You may have seen him in Tadpole’s last production, Driving Miss Daisy.  In The Woman in Black he plays all the other roles from simpering legal clerk, charismatic land owner, to grumpy country horse and trap driver.  In each he is accurate vocally and physically as well as being totally believable.  It is a well crafted performance for this small theatre.

John Anthony directs The Woman in Black with an old fashioned authority.  I was expecting a much more ‘modern theatre’ lightness in touch and more creative staging to reveal this complex tale’s potential. It is all a bit obvious and ‘stagey’, as if the Victorian feel of the story has to have a period production style. 

Tadpole Productions, led by Louise Wallace, is doing some great work bridging the gap between amateur and professional theatre on the Northshore with passion and commitment.  The Woman in Black is just a bit too big a challenge to fulfil in the space and with the resources at hand.

Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer