Everything is silent except for an eerie light that filters onto the stage like smoke. The atmosphere is intense. It’s as if a nightmare is coming to life in a slow, creeping fashion.
You just know that something scary is about to happen –– and then it does, or maybe it doesn’t.
Like Hitchcock, local stage director Matt Brown likes to thrill and chill without hitting you on the head with all the gory details. And when it comes to psychological thrillers, like the one he is about to stage at the Powerhouse Theatre, the horror comes from those quiet, creeping moments.
“My tastes live in the dark, spooky mysterious stuff. I am fascinated by nightmares, the psychological stuff that haunts you,” said Brown who returns to the director’s chair at Powerhouse after staging the hilarious Lend Me a Tenor last season.
“I like playing on things that are unsettling to me, talking about and seeing the actions come to life with all the subtleties.”
For those a little trepidatious to see The Woman in Black, which opens April 25 and is also Powerhouse’s entry into this year’s Okanagan Zone (O-Zone) Drama Festival, the play is not what many expect from horrors these days.
There are no curse words, or blood dripping from the ceiling, or heads exploding, instead you are creeped out by the nature of the play, said Brown.
“It is subtle in its horror, but it is an in-depth play that offers so much. Every time I read it, I discover something new and intelligent.”
Based on the 1983 book by Susan Hill, and adapted for the stage by Stephan Mallatratt, many will know The Woman in Black from the recent film version that starred Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe as lawyer Arthur Kipps.
However, the stage play is quite different from the movie, said Brown, adding the theatrical version is actually a play within a play, featuring only two actors.
“I first saw the play around 15 years ago. My cousin, who is a few years older than me, who I always looked up to, was in the show,” he said. “I’ve since seen the show many times –– its successes and failures.”
The second longest-running non-musical play in the history of the West End of London, after The Mousetrap, The Woman in Black follows the story of young lawyer Arthur Kipps (played in Powerhouse’s production by Chris Froese, who was the bellhop in Lend Me a Tenor).
In the book, Arthur travels to a small English town to attend the funeral of one of his clients, Mrs. Drablow. It’s there, where he first sees a young woman with a “wasted” face, dressed all in black, standing in the churchyard.
Told by villagers that she brings a curse, Arthur travels to Mrs. Drablow’s former abode, the Eel Marsh House, where while sorting through her papers, he finds a box of letters, and ultimately discovers the dreadful secret of the Woman in Black.
In the stage version, an older Kipps enlists a young actor, simply known in the credits as The Actor (played here by Burnet “Ben” McLean), to help him tell the story of the Woman in Black, hoping that this will help him to move on from those events and exorcise the ghost.
While The Actor plays the part of the young Arthur Kipps, Kipps plays the roles of the people he meets, and like any thriller, audiences should expect a few surprises.
“I like to leave some things vague so by production time, I can put my own colour in and discover something new,” said Brown, adding his cast of two are working hard to achieve both the horror and tell a story at the same time.
“I am definitely pushing them to the edge,” said Brown. “I think if I could sum up in one word the direction we are going in it would be contrast –– between the two characters and the story coming alive, what it should be and where it will go.
“That’s what the nightmare is: What is normal and contrasting it with what is not normal.”
Also attributing to the dark atmosphere is the play’s use of lighting and sound, respectively designed by Powerhouse volunteers Jessika LaFramboise and Bob Oldfield.
“The lighting is its own character. It has as much development as the two actors carrying the whole show. Same as the sound. It is developed and has its own story,” said Brown.
The Woman in Black runs April 25 to 28 and May 1 to 5 at Powerhouse Theatre at 8 p.m. with a matinee April 29 at 2 p.m. Tickets are at the Ticket Seller, 549-7469, www.ticketseller.ca. The play will then be presented to an audience and adjudicator at the O-Zone Drama Festival, hosted by Asparagus Community Theatre in Armstrong, May 6.
