For the second time, Cue theatre brings to life a play that has gripped the West End for more than 30 years, with a new cast By Kaveesha Fernando A solicitor becomes an unlikely playwright when he witnesses something so disturbing that he feels compelled to confront it in order to leave it behind. In doing so, [...]
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For the second time, Cue theatre brings to life a play that has gripped the West End for more than 30 years, with a new cast
A solicitor becomes an unlikely playwright when he witnesses something so disturbing that he feels compelled to confront it in order to leave it behind. In doing so, he draws not only his audience but also the characters of his play into the process, as they step back in time to revisit macabre events from the past.
This is the premise of The Woman in Black, which Cue theatre will stage for the second time in Sri Lanka this week.
Based on the novel by Dame Susan Hill and adapted for the stage by Stephen Mallatratt, the play has gripped audiences in London’s West End for over 30 years. The production opened at the West End in 1989 and had over 13,231 performances there, becoming the second-longest-running non-musical play in West End history, after Agatha Christie’s classic The Mousetrap.
Its structure is unusual: it is a “play within a play”. What the audience watches is in fact a rehearsal of the story the solicitor, Mr. Kipps, is attempting to stage based on his own traumatic past.
It is a two-man show. One character, simply called “the Actor”, is an aspiring performer who plays the younger Mr. Kipps. Mr. Kipps himself takes on multiple roles, portraying several other characters who appear in the story. The result is a tightly constructed theatrical experience where the past slowly unfolds through performance and memory.
Cue theatre first staged The Woman in Black several years ago, but this production features a new cast. This time around, Lahiru Fernando will play Mr. Kipps, while Aaron Henderlin takes on the role of the Actor. Both are long-standing members of Cue theatre, though neither initially set out to become leading performers. Aaron joined Cue years ago simply because his brother suggested it. Lahiru, on the other hand, recalls having stage fright. A friend called him just as casting for a production was closing, and he ended up taking a silent role as a guard. In the next play, however, he returned as the lead villain.
Aaron says he connects easily with his character. “I can personally relate to the Actor because I myself am an actor,” he says, explaining that the character begins to empathise with Mr. Kipps as he steps deeper into the story, gradually feeling the weight of the solicitor’s experience even though he is only supposed to be performing a role.
For Lahiru, playing Mr. Kipps involves inhabiting several other characters as well, each offering a different perspective on the same tragedy. “It’s the same loss that they’ve experienced but what is different is how they faced it,” he explains, noting that the process allows Mr. Kipps himself to gain a deeper understanding of the past as the story unfolds. “It’s interesting and gives you perspective on facing challenges as well,” he adds.
It was precisely this emotional complexity that drew director Ranga Jayaratne to the play. After reading through many scripts, she settled on The Woman in Black because it offered something more than a conventional horror story. “I like a good ghost story,” she says. “Not something spine-chilling and gruesome but something believable.”
Confronting the past: Lahiru and Aaron. Pic by Hope Digital
Ranga is not concerned with replicating the West End production exactly. Instead, she prefers to allow actors to interpret the characters in their own way. Watching that interpretation take shape during rehearsals, she says, is part of the joy of directing.
Her passion for theatre is also what brought her back to Sri Lanka from the UK to stage the production. The timeline has been tight. Casting and early script readings began online in early January while she was still abroad, and she arrived in Sri Lanka about a month later to begin rehearsals in person.
For Ranga, the production is as much about collaboration as it is about storytelling. Cue theatre’s close-knit community helped make the process possible. A 15-member crew worked alongside the actors, handling logistics while Ranga coordinated from overseas.“The first thing I did was ask the long-standing members if they had the capacity to take this on because I wouldn’t be in Sri Lanka to pick up things or make a call,” Ranga explains, adding that they all rose to the occasion.
The role of the crew remains just as important during the performance itself, as this atmospheric production relies heavily on sound, lighting and stagecraft to create tension. What makes the play distinctive is how it builds tension using suggestion rather than spectacle. Lighting, sound and timing play a crucial role, allowing the audience’s imagination to fill in the spaces where something may (or may not) be present. With only two actors on stage and Lahiru portraying six different characters, this is the smallest cast Cue theatre has ever had in a play and the shortest rehearsal time Ranga has worked with. But she says that the community at Cue theatre is what has made it possible and also the reason why she flew across oceans to stage this play.
Things seem to be going very well – they are planning their next play while preparing to stage this one.
Ranga, Lahiru and Aaron are excited as the play draws near. For audiences, the experience promises an evening where the boundary between rehearsal and reality slowly dissolves… until the past refuses to stay buried.
The Woman in Black will be staged at the Namel Malini Punchi Theatre, Borella from March 13 to 15. Tickets are priced at Rs. 6000, 5000, 4000 and 2000 (balcony) and are available on MyTickets.lk.
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