It may be celebrating its 15th year in the West End but ten minutes before curtain-up, the mid-week box office queue for this ‘vintage thriller to cherish’ still spilled out onto the pavement. Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of the novel by Susan Hill remains a genuine, copper-bottomed audience-pleaser.
And over the years nothing much has changed. The first half still drags a bit and the play doesn’t really explode into life until after the interval when the eerie creaking of a vacant rocking chair in the haunted house is joined by what looks like an undernourished ghost, as well as an invisible dog and a series of spine-tingling, blood-curdling screams.
Pip Donaghy plays solicitor Arthur Kipps who sets the whole affair into motion by seeking the help of The Actor (Colin Hurley) in an effort to exorcise the terrible memories that have plagued him for years. Their performances are entirely convincing, yet not forced or melodramatic - the terror and suspense are in the minds of the audience. When the climax finally arrives it is no less ghastly because many of us feared that something like that would happen.
Michael Holt’s deliberately shabby set is cleverly lit by Kevin Sleep and Rod Mead’s sound design remains a key element of the play’s endurance.
Fifteen years is a long time and surely theatregoers are more sophisticated now than they were in 1989. Still, as the lights went up, people began laughing just a little too loudly and talking just a little too much. Anyone would think they had been through a traumatic experience.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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