The Woman in Black, one of the longest-running plays in London, is to close after 33 years, more than 13,000 performances and innumerable audience shrieks.
The chilling drama, adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from Susan Hill’s 1983 novel, will play its final performance at the Fortune theatre in the West End on 4 March.
A popular production for school trips, The Woman in Black “has given generations of young people the opportunity to experience the enjoyment and the life-changing impact of theatre,” said Hill. Its producer, Peter Wilson, said: “The Woman in Black’s miraculous theatricality has never faltered. Out of a gauze, a wicker skip and a door, Stephen Mallatratt and [director] Robin Herford conjured a complete world into which generations of young people have entered, surrendering to the ultimate magic of theatre: their own imaginations. However, the economic reality of attracting so many young people has caught up with us in a world of rising prices.”
Theatres are facing increasing energy bills and financial pressures are mounting for audiences amid the cost of living crisis. A line of high-profile West End plays have also announced their closures. Come from Away and Mary Poppins will play their final performances in January and & Juliet will end in March. Dear Evan Hansen closed in October.
The Woman in Black was first staged in Scarborough after Herford commissioned Mallatratt to write a ghost story for Christmas. It opened at the Stephen Joseph theatre in 1987. The play arrived at the Fortune theatre in the summer of 1989 after playing earlier that year at the Lyric Hammersmith, the Strand (now Novello) and the Playhouse theatres.
“The Fortune has been a very happy London home for this play,” said Herford, “its intimacy providing not only the right scale and atmosphere for the action, but also a treat for the audience in appreciating this West End jewel with its classic art deco architecture.”
The play is a model of suspense created with minimal means and has a credited cast of just two: Julian Forsyth currently stars as Arthur Kipps and Matthew Spencer plays The Actor. The Woman in Black is the second longest running straight play (as opposed to musical) in London. Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, the world’s longest-running play, is currently celebrating its 70th anniversary.
• This article was amended on 9 November 2022 to fix the names of the actors in the main image which had been transposed.
