'Woman in Black' lets you see what's not there
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Grade: A+
What: Beowulf Alley Theatre Company presents "The Woman in Black" adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from a novel by Susan Hill
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 1:30 p.m. Sundays through Feb. 4
Where: 11 S. Sixth Ave.
Price: $16 general admission, $14 Thrifty Thursdays.
Info: 882-0555, www.beowulfalley.org
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Now the entire Tucson theater community wants to know "Who is playing the woman in black, and where does she go for coffee?" Every audience member anticipates her appearance in every astonishing performance of "The Woman in Black" at Beowulf Alley Theatre - but she doesn't appear in the program.
Directed by Terry Erbe, this elaborate production takes local theater to a new level of excellence. Around the finely balanced two-person cast of David Alexander Johnston and Roberto Guajardo are layered a detailed stage set and precise series of haunting theatrical effects that are remarkably effective.
A measure of how well this works is found in noting there is an invisible dog which we agree exists because its presence is shaped by the actors' pantomime and indicated by its vigorous barking. There is also that ghostly face of the Woman in Black who isn't supposed to exist at all, but we can clearly see onstage. Within the world of this play, both the dog and the woman feel completely real. After all, once you agree to see an invisible dog how can you say there's no such thing as a ghost?
Most notable is how this huge number of sound effects can be employed so artistically. While most Tucson companies will use a few music excerpts to heighten the key dramatic scenes, Beowulf Alley goes wall to wall. Jon Marbry is the sound designer. A former software engineer and professional musician, he calls on all his skills to create this shadow dance of special effects. We hear the noise of a London street scene from a time when horse-drawn carriages shared the street with autos. Crows caw, then take ominously to flight. The tide flows in across a marshy coast. And so it goes.
Johnston and Guajardo carry on as if the play is still the main thing. No tsunami of theater technology is going to stop them from telling their story. They work in a simple stage space that uses stacked up steamer trunks for office desks. Scenes are changed just by shifting the spotlight from one side to the other. Their minimalist approach adds to the story's eeriness.
"The Woman in Black" was adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from the book by Susan Hill. Set in the early 1900s, the plot begins with a British lawyer sent to settle the estate of an eccentric spinster. She lived alone in a clammy mansion built on high ground, surrounded by the inhospitably named Eel Marsh. The house itself is only accessible at low tide.
To the lawyer this whole assignment seems rather boring, just a lot of paperwork, until evidence mounts there may be a ghost involved. Not the ghost of that recently deceased spinster, but someone far more sinister. Determined to discover the truth, the lawyer learns a new respect for the bliss of ignorance.
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