Rida Khan 12 Maktoum

The Woman in Black

We went to see The Woman in Black play in Abu Dhabi, in the Armed Forces Officers Club on December 6th. The play is based on the play by Stephen Mallatratts stage adaptation of Susan Hills bestselling novel. The play genre was horror as it is about a strange wasted woman dressed in black with a terrible purpose when seen. It required using the element of surprise. Overall to me the play was incredibly set out as it used only two actors playing multiple roles. It differentiated the play from other productions I have seen and it has caught my attention straight away. Straight from the start, before the play began, the audience understood what the stage represented, what era it represented and what the situation was. The play started off with one of the characters attempting to read out his book (Arthur Kipps) and the other attempting to help him in reading it out in a more enthusiastic manner. The pace was slow and it was intended to be, which I realized that the pace was meant to build up to catch the audiences attention. I think in my opinion the meaning of this play was obviously horror, I felt the audience to get lost in the fact that two actors can play multiple characters and change the setting on not only a tiny amount of space but also using a limited amount of props, like for example they used the center desk as a horse carriage, and a train setting. This worked in a way that the audience completely forgot how there were only 2 characters and a few props. In my opinion all was used incredibly and was very intriguing. In addition to that, the stage directions were outstanding; the smoke added was also an effect to obviously add the creepiness to the atmosphere, which did so remarkably. The directors aim was to frighten the audience to the point where they would keep an eye out for something unusual anywhere and during any point of the play through the stage directions. This would keep a perpetual rhythm to the play and the atmosphere,

Rida Khan 12 Maktoum

which in my opinion was achieved through the usage of dim lighting of a blue-ish colour to make the visibility lower to add an effect of difficulty to spot the Woman in Black. In terms of usage of the space, the stage was used very wisely as the main focus was always in the middle like when the horse carriage was being shown and the narrator was always on the far right as to seem as voice from behind and not the main emphasis. The sounds were always either low hums or loud screams always creating unrest in the audiences heart. The low hums would prepare the audience, telling them an unpleasant part is coming, and the loud noises, the bangs of the door, the scream, all would startle the audience raising their heart beats. The acting was, in my opinion, outstandingly done. It I very difficult to portray more than one character from one actor and that was achieved extremely well. The actors remembered to change their ways, the way they speak, the way they stand, their attitude. One specific character that I really enjoyed seeing was Mr. Samuel Daily as the actor who played him did it exceptionally well understood how to stand up, how to show himself, his attitude and personality was all done exactly as the audience imagined the character to be. Overall the acting was very naturalistic as the characters acted as anyone would normally. Though only one character was not a naturalistic character, which anyone would guess is The Woman she wore a mask throughout to represent her wasted, ghostly face though since that is not a normal, lifelike costume, it is stylized in some way. Another concept used which was stylized was the use of thought tracking it allows the characters to portray their true emotions and feelings, and that makes it much easier for the audience to understand the character better. This style of acting was perfect for this kind of play, as the theme was horror; the best way for the audience to understand was to see how a person would react in a naturalistic way therefore the actors performed as if in a real-life situation.

Rida Khan 12 Maktoum

The costumes as such were not very varied throughout the play; they were shown to be the same types of clothing, perhaps two different coats, a hat. This made the pace of the play very quick and exhilarating for the audience to see and experience. The lighting and sound was always according to how the actor was feeling, if he was frightened the sounds would echo his low thumping of the heart, highlight every little sound he would hear, as would a person in a real life situation. The setting would always remain the same as the props would never change. This would expand the audiences imagination, force them to imagine the desk as the horse carriage and see the little invisible dog. What I particularly liked about the play was how it was different, unique to any other production it obliterated the usual way of performing, it adapted its originality by adding a new plot to the original story, adding its own flavor, by following not only Brechtian technique by adding some dramatic acting mixed with naturalistic acting, but also Artauds use of adding drastic uses of light and sound in attempting to disturb the audience. This production showed me how easily an audience member gets lost in the actors, how easily the actors can manipulate the audience by making them believe who their characters are. I personally was very intrigued by pace of the play by constantly changing the tense. The production informed me that any play can work with a plot twist at the end, as long as it makes the production an original.