DMT Presents WOMAN IN BLACK Opening 9/6
By: Robert Diamond Jul. 28, 2013
The Douglas Morrisson Theatre continues its 2013-2014 season of mystery and romance with "The Woman in Black" - A Ghost Play adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from the book by Susan Hill. Directed by Marilyn Langbehn and featuring C. Conrad Cady, Mark Frazier and Cynthia Lagodzinski, "The Woman in Black" is a marvelous piece of chilling story-telling that will have you on The Edge of your seat from the moment the house lights go down.
The curtain rises on a small Victorian theatre. Arthur Kipps is attempting to exorcise the demons of his past by recounting his story to an actor, and the two men proceed to "act out" certain events from Kipps' life. Many years before, his job required him to attend the funeral of the sole occupant of Eel Marsh House. He spies a gaunt young woman dressed all in black at the funeral and ... the haunting begins. Hidden behind the shuttered windows of that house on the windswept salt marshes lie tragic and terrible secrets.
"A real theatrical spine-chiller ... A truly nerve shredding experience." The Daily Mail
"The Woman in Black" was first performed in 1987 at the Theatre-By-The-Sea in Scarborough. In 1989, the show moved to the Lyric, Hammersmith, in London's West End. It subsequently transferred to the Strand Theatre, The Playhouse and the Fortune Theatre, where it is now in its 24th year, and is the second longest-running West End play, after "The Mousetrap." "The Woman in Black" has been translated into a dozen languages and produced in 40 countries. In February 2012, Daniel Radcliffe, of "Harry Potter" fame, appeared in a film adaptation of Susan Hill's novel.
Stephen Mallatratt (1947- 2004) was a British playwright, television screenwriter ("Coronation Street," "The Forsyte Saga" (2002) and "Island at War" (2004)) and actor ("Chariots of Fire" and "Brideshead Revisited"). Born in north London, from a lower middle-class background, Mallatratt trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, and worked as a rep actor. He was spotted by the playwright, Alan Ayckbourn, and began working in Ayckbourn's company in Scarborough, originating roles in such plays as "Confusions"," Absent Friends" and "Bedroom Farce." Besides "The Woman in Black," his most well-known work as a playwright, Mallatratt's other works for the stage include "Comic Cuts," "Touch Wood and Whistle" and "An Englishman's Home." On the official website for the London production of "The Woman in Black," a friend of Mr. Mallatratt says that the playwright's "central inspiration" for his adaptation of Susan Hill's book was the opening Chorus of Shakespeare's "Henry V" (the "O for a muse of fire" speech), as he calls upon the audience's imagination in his play to conjure and create the "the gaunt grey house," the mysterious landscape and ghostly apparitions.
Susan Hill is an English author; besides "The Woman in Black," her most well known novels are "I'm the King of the Castle," "Strange Meeting" and "In the Springtime of the Year." Her books have won the Whitbread Fiction Award, the Somerset Maugham Award and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and been shortlisted for The Booker Prize. Ms. Hill is also the author of non-fiction and children`s books and book reviews. Her most recent books are a trilogy of crime novels.ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Marilyn Langbehn (Director) is delighted to return to the Douglas Morrisson Theatre, where she directed the company's critically-acclaimed Bay Area premiere of "Frost/Nixon. " Past projects include West Coast premiere of David Mamet's "Race" at interPLAYERS ("Best Director", inlander.com); "Driving Miss Daisy" ("Top Ten Bay Area Productions of the Year", Contra Costa Times); "Rabbit Hole" ("Top Ten Bay Area Productions of the Year"; Theater Dogs); "Superior Donuts" (San Francisco premiere); "Gypsy," starring Academy Award-winner Patty Duke; "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?";" The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee;" "Jesus Christ Superstar"; "Getting Out"; "Mama Drama"; "The Boys Next Door"; " The Laramie Project"; "Bent"; "Give 'Em Hell, Harry"; "Stop Kiss"; "All in the Timing"; "Shadowlands"; "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean"; "Agnes of God"; "A Shayna Maidel"; "1776"," Cabaret"; "I Love You You're Perfect Now Change"; "Kiss Me, Kate"; "Cotton Patch Gospel"; and" Guys and Dolls," among others. Upcoming projects include "The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged)(revised)" and" August: Osage County." Ms. Langbehn is the Artistic Director of Contra Costa Civic Theatre (CCCT), and the Marketing/PR Manager for California Shakespeare Theater. For more information visitwww.marilynlangbehn.com. ABOUT THE Douglas MorrisSON THEATRE
The Douglas Morrisson Theatre is located at 22311 N. Third St. in Hayward, next to the Senior Center and the Japanese Gardens. The Box Office is open Tuesday through Friday, 12:30 to 5:30 and can be reached at (510) 881-6777. Information is also available atwww.dmtonline.org. The Douglas Morrisson Theatre is owned and operated by the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District, and is funded by the property taxes of the people who live in the Hayward, Castro Valley, and San Lorenzo areas, as well as other portions of unincorporated Alameda County. First named "The Little Theatre" at its dedication on November of 1978, the theatre opened its doors in January of 1979 with a production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, "The King and I." The theatre operated under The Little Theatre name until 2003 when it was renamed the Douglas Morrisson Theatre.
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