Review: The Woman in Black (Oxford Playhouse)

The Woman in Black (written by Susan Hill and adapted for the stage by Stephen Mallatratt) has always been a show I’ve been unsure about wanting to see, due to the anticipation of it being terrifying, (which is strange even to me, as my favourite books are psychological thrillers).  When I was invited to review the play at Oxford Playhouse, I decided to face my fears. I went in without any knowledge of the play whatsoever, just a sense of anxiety due to whispers I’d heard years ago from past audience members.

We arrived at the theatre and were surrounded by a huge group of schoolchildren (there were at least 2 school trips there, maybe more). I wasn’t quite sure how this was going to impact the show but in short – it added to our experience. I’ll explain why later.

The scene initially depicted a theatre, and the start of the play instantly set the time period of the 1950s. I’m not going to discuss the plot at all, as spoilers are never appropriate but from the description on the theatre website:

Obsessed with a curse that he believes has been cast over him and his family by the spectre of a woman in black, Arthur Kipps engages a sceptical young actor to help him tell his terrifying story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul.

Arthur Kipps (John Mackay) gathers the attention of the audience as he begins to read out his memoir, and as The Actor (Daniel Burke) joins him on stage, the situation you are introduced to is exactly as described above. The way it plays out, however, draws you in so deeply that you eventually are so focussed on what is being discussed the first jump scare takes you completely by surprise, in fact they all do. The credit for this goes partly to stellar direction by Robin Herford but also the absolute skill and precision of the two actors who not only get the delivery and pacing spectacularly right but also, somehow, manage to continue when an entire school trip seemingly lose it in unison screaming and then naturally there was a sense of murmuring until they settled. (To be fair to these young people, as soon as their teachers said shh, they absolutely did).  These reactions were so genuine and hilarious at times, but the actors were so utterly focussed on what they were doing.  They must be completely used to this sort of reaction, but the absolute dedication to the show and continuation as if there were no noises coming from the audience at all was an acting masterclass and instantly drew your focus back to the action on stage.

Credit must be given for the casting by Helena Palmer because these two actors work faultlessly together.

The lighting (Kevin Sleep) was superb, to begin with you hardly notice it but the tone changes to clarify when they characters are talking and when they are playing out the memoir. The lighting is then used effectively (along with sound effects at times) during the moments that are there to scare. Also, the use of blackout is effective, this is a tool that in my opinion doesn’t often add much to plays but in this case it absolutely did. Those moments in pitch black ramped the tension up even more.

The set (Michael Holt) was initially simple in appearance yet revealed more locations as the time went on. The slow reveal of locations being discussed and other characters thanks to the pair acting them out made me feel like there was so much to take in, and so many people involved, but the way that we were led to using our own imaginations in addition to everything presented to us was so intelligently crafted.

And then, of course, there is the titular Woman in Black herself. A friend of mine saw the show in London years ago told me afterwards "you're told you're not allowed to say anything about it". Whether that was true or she was winding me up, I'll never know but my imagination had run with this ever since at how she might actually be involved in this story. The reality was so much better. I am actually quite delighted that I managed, somehow, to go and see this with no prior knowledge. The level of tension & anticipation during the show was exquisite.

This production of The Woman in Black is an absolute must-see for fans of psychological horror.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Woman in Black is showing at Oxford Playhouse until Saturday 14 February 2026. Click here to buy tickets.

I was gifted tickets for this show in exchange for an honest review.