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The Woman In Black Burnside Players Director: Michael Pole Promethean Theatre, Thurs 4 Nov  Arthur
Kipps has something to get off his chest. It's all written down -
what happened to him in some far-fling corner of coastal England -
but he hires a professional actor/director to help him spruce up his
tale for a private telling. What follows is your classic ghost story
told through this clever arrangement of having Kipps and The Actor
perform the multiple roles.As interesting as it is to watch the actors switch hit the characters, I harboured the feeling that the script made a better radio play - a medium where visualisation is entirely imaginary. Of course, the script, adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from a novel by Susan Hill, is the basis for an excellent BBC Radio production. What inspired director Michael Pole to direct the play for Burnside, when he saw the play in a London theatre two years ago, is palpable, but I don't think I saw the same production. Or maybe it's the script for me: the premise is very clever, but its dramatic potential, especially nearer the end of the play, didn't seem fully developed. Nonetheless, the tale is very well told, producing many genuinely hair-raising moments and one could not leave the theatre unimpressed. The cast was a little uneven at the beginning, with Arthur Kipps proving a superior actor to his hired hand. This was later sorted out, but Peter Davies as Mr Kipps provided solid performances throughout the night, except when he sometimes got his numerous accents and characterisations about face. When The Actor, played by Brendan Clare, scared the wits out of you with the tension of fright that he created, you genuinely forgot that he was only acting - that is, The Actor played by the actor was acting. Clare's The Actor, on the other hand, was much less successful. This two hander plus silent ghost - a character that Burnside Player couldn't be bothered including in the cast credits - is a pretty good yarn with many excellent moments. However, considerably more advanced theatrical devices would be required to really pull it off.  |
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