THERE is nothing quite like the experience of seeing The Woman in Black on stage. It’s the only play I’ve seen at the theatre which chilled me to the bone. Even now, many years later, I recall a particularly spooky moment that drew gasps, even screams, from the audience.

Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black returns to the Alhambra in February. It’s the story of a lawyer obsessed with a curse he believes has been cast over his family by the spectre of a ‘Woman in Black’. He engages a young actor to help him exorcise the fear that grips his soul. As they delve into his darkest memories the borders between make-believe and reality begin to blur... and the flesh begins to creep.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Malcolm James as Arthur Kipps and Mark Hawkins as the Actor Malcolm James as Arthur Kipps and Mark Hawkins as the Actor (Image: Mark Douet)

Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Dame Susan Hill’s best-selling novel began as a Christmas show in a Scarborough pub in 1987. It was brought to Hammersmith’s Lyric Theatre in 1989, then to the West End - where it ran for an incredible 33 years.

“We thought it would run for six weeks!” says Susan. “It opened in Scarborough because they had a pantomime on in the theatre and Alan Ayckbourn, who was the Artistic Director, wanted something to put into the studio theatre.

“Stephen Mallatratt went on holiday and at the airport he picked up The Woman in Black. He was lying on a beach in Greece and thought he could make this work on the stage. When he wrote to me asking if he could adapt it I thought it was mad, but it’s a truly remarkable piece of theatre.”

* Were you nervous about handing over your story? “Not at all! The play is very true to the book yet simultaneously very different by nature of being a piece of theatre. It works brilliantly in theatrical terms and it’s still my book, but also not - and that’s exciting.”

* What was it like the first time you saw your characters in the flesh on stage? “The Woman in Black herself very much existed in my mind, I knew what she felt like, so it is very peculiar to feel her presence in a theatre. The two gentlemen are such brilliantly developed characters and utilised so well by Stephen’s writing for the stage that they become quite different. I’m always interested to see new actors taking it over, because although it is the same text, every pair of actors bring something different to it. It really does change!”

* Stephen’s adaptation utilises traditional theatrical techniques in innovative ways. Does the play capture the atmosphere of Eel Marsh House the way you imagined it? “The great thing about the show is it really does use the theatre, the stage, and it makes the audience work. Stephen’s writing makes you use your imagination, that’s the brilliance of it, and also what makes some elements all the more scary.”

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Mark Hawkins in a chilling scene Mark Hawkins in a chilling scene (Image: Mark Douet)

* Where did your idea for The Woman in Black come from? “I always loved reading ghost stories but had realised that in recent years not a lot had been written. People were writing horror, but horror is different to me. You can have a horror story that doesn’t have a ghost, whereas a ghost story could be horror but also could be unnerving in a different way or even heartbreaking.

“I ended up making a list of the key elements I thought a good ghost story should have and worked from that. I thought it should have atmosphere, lots of atmosphere, an isolated location which in itself is unnerving, and I was absolutely sure that the ghost needed a reason to be there. I wasn’t sure at first whether that would be because they wanted revenge, or they needed to communicate with the living world, but I knew they had to have motivation.

“The Woman in Black, she came to me straight away - I wanted her to be a woman and of her period. Then various things that I’d found alarming as a child came back into my mind and I wanted to incorporate them, including the image of the dusty, cobweb covered nursery which I always think has elements of Miss Havisham.”

* Why do you think we enjoy being scared? “It’s a funny thing isn’t it? It’s a very primitive instinct, to be frightened. However, the joy of a ghost story is that it is just practice really, we are being frightened delightfully. Whilst we may jump and scream in the theatre, we know that we are safe and can allow ourselves to be scared which I think is essential! Perhaps it is our way of learning to manage our fears?”

* How does it make you feel when you hear the audience reactions to The Woman in Black? “I’ve seen it so many times and yet sometimes it even makes me jump! I like to watch the show from is from the wings and be able to see the audience from that angle. It’s especially good when you have school parties in who aren’t expecting to be frightened, but as it begins to get tense you see the body language of the whole audience shift. Sometimes people react strongly and shout things out almost involuntarily as they’re so involved in the action!”

* Do you believe in ghosts? “I think I do, in a sense. I’ve never seen one, as far as I know, but enough people I know have been in a place which emanates a sense of evil and have felt the urge to immediately get away from it. Also, you hear of dogs having that sense of something not being right, being spooked, and why would an animal make that up?”

* For some young people, The Woman in Black will be their first experience of live theatre (it’s recommended for ages 12-plus). What should they look out for? “Go in with an open mind, try to immerse yourself. Allow yourself to imagine everything it invites you to.”

* What it is about theatre that makes such a great storytelling platform? Do you have any other works you’d like to see on stage? “There’s something special about live theatre which you can’t get from Netflix or YouTube. The Woman in Black has a lot of young people in its audiences, many have never been inside a theatre and it bowls them over. I hope, indeed I know, that it introduces many to a lifetime of theatre going which makes me and made Stephen Mallatratt very proud.

“When my elder daughter went to the theatre for the first time, to a David Wood children’s play, aged three, she watched intently for the first few minutes then said ‘Mummy, they’re REAL!’ It’s that flesh and blood immediacy. The fact that something may go wrong, or maybe take off into the best performance ever.

“I’d love to see any other of the ghost stories on stage, though they wouldn’t all work. Someone very clever could make The Man In The Picture work, I think. If you can do The Woman in Black, with a pony and trap, a ghost, dog, mist shrouded graveyard and all the contents of the mysterious house, you can do anything!”

* The Woman in Black is at the Alhambra, February 20-24. Call (01274) 432000 or visit bradford-theatres.co.uk