"Theater lends itself to horror because you get so connected with everybody in the room and experience this horror together as a helpless bystander," says costume designer Tory Green. "You're put in this position where you can't stop anything that's happening. If you don't want to see it, you literally have to get up to leave, and most people don't want to bring that kind of social attention to themselves. If you love Goosebumps, The Twilight Zone or Black Mirror, then you should come out to the theater, because The Woman in Black is the show for you."
The macabre masterpiece is based on Susan Hill's 1983 novel of the same name and adapted by Stephen Mallatratt for the stage in 1987. The Woman in Black, which is the second-longest-running non-musical play to ever run in London's West End, tells the story of junior lawyer Arthur Kipps as he travels through perilous terrain to the sleepy market town of Crythin Gifford. His purpose? To attend the funeral of Mrs. Alice Drablow, a deceased client whose life holds ominous secrets. Little does he know that his presence will unveil the horrifying truth of the Woman in Black, a specter that has haunted the town and its inhabitants for generations.
According to executive producer Maru Garcia, “The Woman in Black is a classic horror story that is very attractive to audiences in October.” Even though she is not a big fan of horror and worries that this play will be too frightening for her to attend, she is happy to have artists on board who are eager to capitalize on the intimacy of the space to create an all-encompassing horror experience.
Artists like Jeamus Wilkes, who designed and constructed the show's set. He is a connoisseur of horror and co-chair of the Horror Writers Association's Colorado chapter. "I am very familiar with the original novel, quite like the 1989 TV movie, and I love the recent film with Daniel Radcliffe, even though it got middling reviews," Wilkes says. "And I might be biased because I have a theater background, but I think the best presentation of The Woman in Black is on stage. It takes the story you know, but tells the narratology differently. Since it's much more of a past-tense type tale, it allows Arthur to really reflect on the haunting."
Ronan Viard, who plays young Arthur Kipps, "knew absolutely nothing about the story. I never saw any movies and don't like horror movies. If others don’t like horror, they should be afraid, because this play is really spooky.
"My focus as an actor is not trying to be scared or play up the horror; this is a very deep story about one person’s very intense journey, so I'm trying my best to be as sincere as I can and honor the reality of what this guy is going through," he continues. "The show relies a lot on the actors, especially the two men, because the third actor is already on the other side, while we’re still in the living world trying to survive. My goal is to make the audience believe I’m scared shitless, because it is really scary. Hopefully, they'll leave with a delicious feeling of unease."
Selena A. Naumoff, who created the props for The Woman in Black at the Fountain Hills Theater Company in Arizona twenty years ago, will direct the play in Wheat Ridge. Since working on the production two decades ago, the play has tantalized Naumoff, who thought it would be perfect for the company's stage.
"It's such a great show for this size of theater, and perfect for October," she says. "A lot of theaters' shows don't work because they make the ghost too obvious. [Directors] want the audience to see the ghost, but we're not going to let you know for sure every time she's on stage. There's a couple of times where the audience is going to go, ‘Did I just see the ghost?’ ... We're going to play psychological tricks on the audience. The audience should leave worried that they are haunted and bring this ghost home to your family. There are accidental jump scares — that cannot be helped — but there's no splash zone for blood; it's just not that sort of show."
The Woman in Black offers more than jump scares and fleeting frights.
Courtesy of Wheat Ridge Theatre Company
"As far as leaning into horror, most of the time — and I learned this from Hitchcock — you just have to suggest something and then let someone's imagination run with that," Wilkes shared. "I've seen a lot of different productions of The Woman in Black on stage, and the most effective ones really nail the technical elements. I have to make sure I'm not doing anything on stage that’s going to blow up the mood. It's just a suggestion of what's there and nodding to the spooky elements."
"It's thought-provoking, because it plays on the sense of personal trauma," adds Hirsch, who portrays the titular Woman in Black, in addition to her technical duties. "There are elements of this play that touch me as a mother and a daughter. If you just listen to the script and embrace the experience, you’re going to get a lot out of this macabre experience. It’s scary, but it’s not disgusting; you aren’t seeing Saw."
Patrick Brownson, an actor navigating the complexities of playing old Arthur Kipps as well as every other character in the show, sees the play as a therapeutic release. "It's not just about horror to me; the main theme of this play is the power of storytelling and how powerful it is to share your story with an audience," he says. "Stories affect the person telling the story as much as it does the audience receiving it, because this is very much about the character using this story to purge himself of his past. All his negative emotions, all of these horrible feelings and horrible things that happened to him, twenty to thirty years later, he still cannot get over it, so this is a therapy session for him."
The Woman in Black transcends the boundaries of traditional horror, offering more than jump scares and fleeting frights. This production, with its seasoned cast and dedicated crew, epitomizes the power of theater to evoke emotions and provoke thoughts.
"It truly is the ultimate seasonal event," Wilkes touts. "It's perfect for the person who doesn't want to go to an interactive haunted house to be chased by some stupid-ass zombie with a chainsaw, or if you want to do something other than going to the movie theater; this is the way horror was meant to be experienced."
The Woman in Black runs Friday, October 13, through Sunday, October 29, Wheat Ridge Theatre Company, 5455 West 38th Avenue, Unit J, Wheat Ridge; get tickets at wheatridgetheatre.com.
