Returning to Old Haunts (From Staines Guardian)

Returning to Old Haunts

12:28pm Friday 8th January 2010

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As a 13-year-old, a good few years ago, I had one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, watching The Woman in Black at Richmond Theatre.

That night, I was scared to go to sleep, convinced the ghostly apparition who had stalked the theatre only a few hours earlier was now residing in my cupboard.

Perhaps this makes me a bit of a wimp, but I am willing to wager a fair amount that, heading out of the millions who have seen the show since it opened at the Fortune Theatre in the West End in 1989, there are plenty of others who have had similar experiences.

As well as scaring the living daylights out of audiences at the Fortune, this phenomenally succesful stage version of Susan Hill’s ghost story has been out on countless jaunts around the country (as I discovered to my horror, way back when) and it is now out on the road again, starting its latest tour at Richmond Theatre from Tuesday Actor Robert Demeger is returning to the production for the fifth time and he says the play is still a joy to perform.

“It is just great fun and I have never been bored doing it,” he says. “Even if you sometimes feel ‘here we go again’, as soon as you step onto the stage the audience is so up for it you can’t help but give 100 per cent.

“The Woman in Black is that rare thing, a piece of popular theatre that is not a musical. It’s about the only play I can think of that fill theatres up and down the country with only two actors in it, neither of whom are a TV name.”

Hill’s novel tells the story of a young solicitor, Kipps, who is sent to the secluded Eel Marsh House to sort through the affairs of the late Mrs Drablow. Things soon take a turn for the worse when he starts to see a young woman, dressed in black, with a wasted face, appearing at the house and in the village.

Adaptor Stephen Mallatratt and director Robin Herford have added an extra twist by making it a ‘play within a play’ two-hander, as an older Kipps, played by Demeger, acts out his story, assisted by a young actor, with the truth behind the mysterious woman being revealed.

According to Demeger, this stripped-down approach to storytelling, with minimal props, is one of the reason’s for the production’s enduring success.

“There are about 10 characters but, if it had been done conventionally with that many actors, I don’t think it would have lasted so long,” adds Demeger.

“It is about these two actors just putting on a piece of theatre. In this age of CGI, it is refreshing for people to watch something that is so simple and effective.”

Demeger is a veteran of the stage, having performed at the National Theatre, the Almeida, and the RSC throughout his long career, but has he ever experienced an audience reaction similar to that of The Woman in Black?

“Not really, it’s quite unique,” he says. “You get people crying out and you often see a 6ft bald guy sitting there in the first half with a look on his face that says: ‘This isn’t scary’, and then he is screaming like a child in the second half!”

The Woman in Black, Richmond Theatre, January 12 to 16. for more information, visit ambassadortickets. com

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