In Prince William Little Theatre’s haunting October production of The Woman in Black, director Cameron McBride conjures a masterclass in atmospheric storytelling that lingers long after the final blackout. Staged in the intimate Gregory Family Theater at the Hylton Performing Arts Center, this adaptation of Stephen Malatratt’s play (based on Susan Hill’s novel) embraces minimalism with maximum impact, inviting the audience to lean into the shadows and fill in the terror with their own imagination. PWLT’s imaginative retelling of the story that played for over 30 years in London’s West End is a perfect treat for the ghoulish season.
In this story, Arthur Kipps, a lawyer obsessed with a curse that he believes has been cast over him and his family by the specter of a Woman in Black, engages a skeptical young actor (and his spectral stagehands) to help him tell his terrifying story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul. It all begins innocently enough, but then, as they reach further into his darkest memories, they find themselves caught up in a world of eerie marshes and moaning winds.
The principal actors, John Mathews and Scott Heine, deliver a complex retelling of the story with a masterful challenge of portraying multiple layers of character simultaneously. The play, which is essentially a play within a play, is haunted throughout by the ghost story. Scott’s Arthur Kipps hires John’s Actor to depict himself, retelling the ghost story. At the same time, Arthur Kipps takes on the roles of numerous other characters in the story. Their chemistry is compelling, especially as the boundaries between performance and reality start to blur.
The ensemble of “Shades” — Becca Anderson, H. Christian Aguilar, Ava Botros, Laura Gibson, Emily LaCroix, and Billy Lister — adds eerie texture, haunting the periphery with silent menace and spectral grace. They add an extra layer of subtle dread, foreshadowing the ghost story that underlies both the reality of the past and the horror that may come.
The production team deserves high praise for crafting an immersive world with subtlety and skill. Michelle Brooks and Cameron McBride’s set design is evocative without being literal, allowing the audience’s imagination to roam. Award-winning lighting designers Ken and Patti Crowley manipulate shadow and silhouette with finesse, bringing the stage to life and afterlife, while Matthew Scarborough’s sound design heightens the tension with moaning winds and distant echoes. Riley Leonhardt’s costume work and Emily Lagana’s hair and makeup complete the illusion, grounding the ghostly in the Victorian.
The Woman in Black is a triumph of suggestion over spectacle, of imagination over exposition. It’s a ghost story that doesn’t just ask you to watch — it asks you to participate. As McBride writes, “The real chills are not on stage, but in what you picture just beyond the light.” PWLT’s production delivers those chills in spades, offering a perfect October night of theatrical magic.
Catch it before it vanishes into the mist. And when you leave the theater, don’t forget to glance over your shoulder — you never know what might be following you home.
Running Time: One hour and 50 minutes, with one 15-minute intermission.
The Woman in Black plays through October 19, 2025, presented by Prince William Little Theatre performing at Hylton Performing Arts Center, 10960 George Mason Cir, Manassas, VA. Purchase tickets ($20–$25) online.
CAST
Actor: John Mathews
Arthur Kipps: Scott Heine
Shades: Becca Anderson, H. Christian Aguilar, Ava Botros, Laura Gibson, Emily LaCroix, Billy Lister
PRODUCTION TEAM
Director: Cameron McBride
Producer: George Fulda
Stage Manager: Deb Hansen
Hair and Make-up Design: Emily Lagana
Set Design: Michelle Brooks & Cameron McBride
Set Dressing: Michelle Brooks
Lighting Design: Ken Crowley & Patti Crowley
Costume Design: Riley Leonhardt
Properties Design: Julianna Gedney
Dramaturg: Jenn Robinson
