Westport Community Theatre Opens THE WOMAN IN BLACK, Today

Westport Community Theatre's next production is one of the spookiest, best-written ghost stories to hit theatres in years – Stephen Mallatrat's "The Woman in Black." Based on the novel of the same name by Susan Hill, "The Woman in Black" tells the macabre tale of London solicitor Arthur Kipps, who travels to a very remote part of England, the small town of Crythin Gifford, to settle the estate of one of his recently deceased clients. 

 

Proud and solitary, Eel Marsh House surveys the windswept reaches of the salt marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeway. Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, the house's sole inhabitant, unaware of the tragic secrets which lie hidden behind the shuttered windows. It is not until he glimpses a wasted young woman dressed all in black at the funeral, that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold. This feeling is deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk of the woman in black – and her terrible purpose. Years later, as an old man, he recounts his experiences to an actor in a desperate attempt to exorcise the ghosts of the past. The play unfolds around the conversations of these two characters as they act out the solicitor's experiences on Eel Marsh all those years ago.

 

Get set for an amazing night of theatre where imagination rules, and where artistic license paves the way for chills and terror of the best theatrical kind. We don't want to give anything away... but it will amuse, astonish and terrify – and touch every emotion.

 

Under the expert direction of Richard Mancini, actors Geoffrey Gilbert and Michael Butler deliver performances that transform this play (actually a play-within-a-play) into one of the most compelling, evenings of theatre you'll have this year. Bethany Schalow stage manages, with period set design by Alexander Kulcsar and an intricate lighting design by Jeff Klein. 

 

"The Woman in Black" runs November 23 – December 9, Fridays and Saturdays November 23, 24, 30, December 1, 7 and 8 at 8:00 PM, Sundays November 25, December 2 and 9 at 2:00 PM and Thursday, November 29 at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $18 – $20. WCT offers a senior discount of $2 at all performances, groups of 10 or more enjoy a $2 per ticket discount, and a special "Student Rush" discount is available 15 minutes prior to performances for students of all ages with a valid student identification card. Call the Box Office at (203) 226-1983 or go towww.westportcommunitytheatre.com to book online.