Keegan’s ‘Woman in Black’ is a London Bog
A handful of well-staged frights aren't enough to breathe life into Keegan's plodding "The Woman in Black."
Life imitates art, and not favorably, in Josh Sticklin’s uneven staging of The Woman in Black at the Keegan Theatre. The play, by Stephen Mallatratt, based on Susan Hill’s gothic horror novel, opens with older Englishman Arthur Kipps (Robert Leembruggen) reciting the tale of a past incident that still haunts him.
Kipps, alone on the stage of a Victorian theater, meekly reading from a script, is critiqued by an actor (Noah Mutterperl) watching from the empty house. Planted among the Keegan audience, the actor tries to coax from Kipps a more compelling delivery, coaching him to try to bring his words to life so vividly that his intended audience might visualize every detail, and experience every emotion.
Having long avoided revisiting these events, Kipps wants to get his telling right, a feeling Leembruggen conveys with relatable urgency. So Kipps is open to collaborating with the actor to shape the most powerful depiction of this harrowing episode from his past.
Yet, once the duo launches into the tale, and the cast switches roles — with Mutterperl as younger Kipps, and Leembruggen playing multiple characters who young Kipps encounters — the production starts to feel in need of someone to come in and coax out a more compelling delivery.
Director Sticklin also designed the handsomely gothic, very active set, which encompasses, among other locations, a creepy church graveyard and Eel Marsh House, the odd, old manor outside London where solicitor Kipps is called to attend to a deceased widow’s documents. Centered on a turntable stage, the disparate environments overlap, mingling fixtures, furniture, and props, all in smoky black.
From the lampposts ringing the churchyard, to the chandelier suspended over antiques shrouded in white linens, Sticklin casts an inviting atmosphere for a Victorian haunted house tale. The mood and pacing are greatly abetted by Sage Green’s nimble lighting. Strobe interludes and transitions by bulb light effectively amp up the tension, especially when that turntable really gets to spinning.
However, the revolving set and occasional frenzy, and a generally dynamic performance by Mutterperl, don’t overcome a lack of cohesion in the storytelling, and the lack of complementary chemistry between the two players.
As Mutterperl’s wide-eyed young Kipps reenacts his time of fear and confusion at Eel Marsh, Leembruggen essays local landowner, Mr. Daily, who meets Kipps on the way from London and knows something of the deceased widow. He’s also Keckwick, a villager who drives Kipps to Eel Marsh with a pony and trap. But Leembruggen doesn’t make too strong a distinction between Daily and Keckwick, or any of the multiple parts in his charge.
So their respective fragments of the story don’t reflect much character, just names and information. And, as young Kipps attempts, with these locals’ assistance, to piece together the secrets and mysteries of Eel Marsh, the plot gets lost. The fragmented telling doesn’t truly connect the dots until a very necessary late summation by Daily of the lore surrounding the house, the widow, and the woman in black whom Kipps glimpses in the churchyard.
Exactly the issue raised with Kipps at the beginning seems to befall the production, with oration not quite conjuring a vivid enough picture to hold The Woman in Black together. Elements that should be the icing on the cake, such as comedy that turns on timing and delivery, mostly fall flat.
At least several elements of suspense are well-mounted, along with a few macabre reveals that capture the visceral sense of dread that’s otherwise missing from this pallid ghost story.
The Woman in Black (★★☆☆☆) runs through Nov. 17, at The Keegan Theatre, 1742 Church St. NW. Tickets are $54, with discount options available. Visit www.keegantheatre.com.
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