Woman in Black

• Lighting


  1. Starts harsh and full, wash

  2. Goes blue (indicates night) as actor starts reading manuscript

  3. Slightly narrowed and yellowed further, then black out into wide white wash as story is told

  4. Narrowed and softened (yellows slowly) when manuscript is passed back to Kipps

  5. Dark, ends in blackout on train

  6. Darker and more narrowed - focus in when Gibson is writing letters

  7. Black out between days before opening up into a wide dark blue wash

  8. Projection of stained glass window on back gauze line, church is a very dark blue wash

  9. Back to dark blue wash when in scene

  10. White spotlight on actor's face on the trap, light silhouette of house on the back

  11. Lights go black as Kekwick pushes the box off

  12. Lighting changes to make the gauze see through as actor explores the church

  13. Lights go deep and blue (deep and blue outside - white and washed inside) when actor decides to leave, lights black out as Kekwick approaches

  14. All is black other than a spotlight on the locked door when he returns to the house
• Sound


  1. All diuretic in the beginning, just them speaking

  2. Recorded sound - characters fawn over it, diuretic. Car noises and then a faint clock ticking. Runs faint in background whilst in the office

  3. Recorded sound of train (diuretic), does not continue through out the scene but only when he references changing trains

  4. Runs constantly in back on the final train journey with Sam Daily

  5. Back out and background noise of people talking when going into day 3

  6. Diuretic of a priest leading prayers and an organ in the back round

  7. Diuretic recorded sound of a horse and trap and sound of birds on the journey with Keswick

  8. Bird noises - now sounding scared when at Eel Marsh house

  9. Non-diuretic eerie noises (almost like wind) and a fog machine from the back when actor decides to leave, recorded trap noise followed by noise of horse screaming when Kekwick approaches, diuretic eerie children laughing noises when he returns to the house

  10. Non-diuretic sound of heart beat after Actor wakes up in the night, crescendos and quickens in tempo as he nears the once locked door

  11. Heart beat comes back, again crescendos and quickening in tempo, ends with horse and trap noise - ends in horse screaming
• Kips


  • Starts off monotone and inexpressive, many pauses, seems unnatural, very stagnant and un-natural reading, repeats the same bad scene over and over again, when not reading, very animated and human, almost angry when explaining his reasoning - not revealing to the audience why yet, unsure, not sure what he is doing
• Actor

  • Steps down into audience when monologuing, does not want it to be entertainment, more nervous on second day, still reading from a script, dramatic and OTT as assistant, sits up right, speaks Northern accent and very domineering as Mr Bentley, not understanding how to act when not real object, old, clutches stick, very straight back - slow and old voice as Sam Daily, Northern accent, very back country, pauses and freezes when Drablow mentioned as Landlord, very tense and nervous, denies enjoying it, more caring when told he has a child, most closed (lost a child to the woman in black) as Jerome, solemn at the funeral, nervous when woman is bought on, angry shouting and scared, on his knees, explains himself, asks for him to walk with him back, scared as he lost a child to her, says Mr Kipps then is silent, eyes dead forward as Kekwick, becomes a narrator after finishing as Kekwick, comes to save Actor, not answering questions, angry, in a 'state of emotion' as Mr Jerome, walks on with a torc, puts comforting arm around Actor, stands by Actor - speaking in a 'matter-of-fact tone' as Sam Daily, starts very over the top, walks on from the aisle through the audience, almost insulting, very dramatic, turns to audience to break 4th wall, mellows on second day, less dramatic, more realistic, breaks forth wall - direct address, notices Landlord being nervous, opens up about his child, more tense on day 3, aware people are watching him, solemn, slow, and still but looking around for the woman at the funeral, commemorative of the surprise, talking positive of the place to Kekwick, investigative at the church, panics and decides to leave, returns to house and falls to floor, in ball covering ears, no longer panicked, just finds the job tedious and repetitive, happy to have Spider's company, realises the door is unlocked and runs back to bed, wakes up and cycles back to town then back to the house, monologues what he finds in the letter, starts to find out the story from letters, walks around lighting the stage with a torch, wades out to grab the dog, speaks with a semantic field of remorse, shakes hands with the woman in black, both sad, ends on heartbeat crescendos
• Woman in Black


  • Appears when they go through a tunnel on the train, only lit up by a very narrow spotlight in the window, walks on at the funeral, walks up to him when he first arrives at Eel Marsh house
• Costumes


  • Kipps - Formal brown shirt and dark-brown waist coat (buttoned), middle aged, puts on glasses occasionally
  • Actor - Long sleeved white blouse - unbuttoned black waist coat, long trousers, smart shoes
  • The Woman in Black - all covered up in black, black bonnet and veil over face - very white face and make up - looks like skin stretched over bones - very hollowed cheeks and white face
  • Jerome - Black hat and usual Kipps outfit
  • Landlord - Black hat and a long apron over usual Kipps outfit
  • Kekwick - Long brown jacket, brown flat cap, long scarf over usual Kipps outfit
  • Mr Daily - Long Brown coat, walking stick, brown top hat over usual Kipps outfit
• Set


  • Two wooden chairs with a red seat cushion
  • Chest on trucks with stickers - dark brown with metal trimmings
  • Coat rack in corner covered with white fabric
  • Two short bar stools with a black seat cushion
  • Candelabra - lamp on a stick
  • Door
  • Gobo used to project Eel Marsh house onto the gauze
  • Behind the gauze: Stairs going up from centre stage to stage right, Furniture covered with white cloth (first time), A wooden rocking chair (still rocking), A wooden horse, Night light - gas powered, Unit with neatly folded clothes, Toys - soldiers in rows and dolls on the bed, Still playing music box