woman in black evaluation

The show: The play itself was incredibly chilling, with massive "build- up's" of tension and a web of intertwining mystery, gradually unwinding along with explosions of terror. These key factors are (in my opinion) what makes W in B so effective and memorable.

The Key points of; memorable tension, outstanding performance and large importance are to follow:

Act one:

The first key build up of tension was actually very subtle and quite small, although still massively important. It occurred on the train with Mr. Kipps embarking on his journey to Cryffin Gryfford. He is sat opposite a character who seems to be a local, and they are having a conversation. (The stage at this point is dark with lighting effects accompanied by sound effects to make it seem like a train journey.) As the conversation progresses, Mr. Kipps mentions Mrs. Drablow and her mansion for the first time in the play. Instantly the atmosphere changes. The man opposite Kipps suddenly changes his mood, he becomes more quite and his voice has a sense of urgency. The change in atmosphere is very large but the change of tension is more subtle; the audience can tell that something is wrong and that there has to be some sort of danger about either the house or Mrs. Drablow.

Dramatic tension has been achieved here as the title (woman in black) and the sense of fear around Mrs. Drablow implies that she could be the titular character. The audience seem to pick up on this but not Kipps. He just keeps on carrying out his task of getting to the house.

Once he arrives in Cryffin Gryfford he meets with the local solicitor and then decides to go to the inn at which he was staying. He sits down and starts to narrate a letter he is writing to his partner. The build up of tension here is similar to the first: The landlord comes over to Kipps and again the start talking, similar to before Mrs. Drablow and the house is brought up in conversation. However the landlord acts slightly different to the man on the train, not only aurally but this time physically. His body language and shape is altered dramatically. He hunches over more and starts to slightly shake; this gives a sense of fear and panic to the audience and Kipps. More Dramatic tension causes Kipps to find it slightly odd but ignore it, but the audience's suspicions grow.

The final Key scene in act one is the funeral of Alice Drablow. It is the first time I felt scared as an audience member and this scene had the largest tension build up, and eerie atmosphere in the whole first act. In this scene, Mr. Kipps is at the funeral with the local solicitor, no one else seems to be present. The stage was dark with a GOBO effect crucifix on the back wall, there was a light howling of wind, and otherwise it was silent. Suddenly a figure comes from stage left to stand next to Mr. Kipps. This was the first encounter with the Woman in Black in the show. The actor playing the actor playing Mr. Kipps' reaction to seeing the figure was perfect. He seemed alarmed and panicked but at the same time bemused. His performance in this scene was especially good because he expressed all of his feelings emotions towards the woman without actually saying anything. It was obvious at this point that the woman was the titular character but who she used to be was unclear; for example, I thought that the woman in black was Alice Drablow, as a ghost.

This is what initially made me feel uneasy, but then, after she exited stage left she came back towards the stage down the right isle. She was now up close to the audience and her appearance was clearer and more apparent. You could feel a presence in the theatre now, and since it was rather tense to begin with, she added to the tension greatly.

Act Two

The next major increase in tension of the show was the first night that Mr. Kipps spent in the mansion. By this time he has been lent spider the dog (a mimed creature) from Keckwick, so he is not completely alone and there is space for him to have conversation or dialogue, even without a reply. This distracts us from the sinister atmosphere of the house for a short period, making any frightening sounds or actions even scarier.

For instance, Kipps is alone in the house, but for the dog, spider. He can hear strange, foreign noises. He decides to get up and returns to a door which previously, he could not open. When he finally opens the door there is a massive anti-climax because the audience feel that there must be something behind it, but they do not know what. However, when he tries again, the door swings open violently. This was very shocking for the audience, many of who reacted with screams. This scene definitely had the most suspense, for the audience were on the edge of their seats, waiting for the Woman in Black to jump out at any moment.

The climax of the show comes next, after going back into town to buy a torch and other supplies; Kipps goes back to the house to spend another night there, and get some work done. Whilst working he comes across countless letters to Mrs. Drablow from an unknown person named Jennet Humfry. It holds information about a young boy, who appears to be Jennets son but is living with Alice. He then starts hearing noises (made by very realistic sound effects, the tension gradually builds as the stage gets dimmer and the sounds get louder. Kipps gets more and more panicked and starts looking frantically around the set. The old style stage made very effective noises with every footstep. He then goes through the door he couldn't open before and enters what seems to be a child's room. He starts to calm down but the tension is still at a peak, he sits on the bed and opens a small music box. He realises that this must be the boy in

Robbie Russell year 10 drama