The Woman In Black is leaving the West End tonight, Saturday 4 March 2023, after 33 years playing in London.
The long-running thriller will play its final performance at the Fortune Theatre having run at the venue for 33 years and clocked up over 13,000 performances.
A UK tour of The Woman in Black is now planned, running from September 2023
The UK tour of Susan Hill’s The Woman In Black will open at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre on 6 September 2023. Following Wolverhampton, the tour will visit Cardiff, Billingham, Buxton, Aylesbury, Southend, Richmond, Poole, Nottingham, Liverpool, Norwich, Truro, York, Birmingham, Bradford, Brighton, Ipswich, Glasgow, Milton Keynes, Dartford, High Wycombe and Crewe. Further tour dates will be announced.
Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s best-selling novel tells the story of a lawyer obsessed with a curse that he believes has been cast over his family by the spectre of a ‘Woman in Black’. He engages a young actor to help him tell his story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul. It begins innocently enough, but as they delve further into his darkest memories the borders between make-believe and reality begin to blur and the flesh begins to creep.
Following a Christmas production in 1987 at a pub in Scarborough, The Woman In Black was brought to Hammersmith’s Lyric Theatre in January 1989. Reviews were sufficiently encouraging (apart from The Independent, who regretted the production’s inability to incorporate a live dog) to warrant a West End run. Its West End tour started at the Strand (now Novello) Theatre in March and moved to the Playhouse in April, finally lodging at the Fortune on 7 June 1989.
To maintain freshness in the production the show has had regular cast changes, with a new pair taking over every nine-months. A young Joseph Fiennes is listed as appearing in the show, as have Orlando Wells & Michael Mears (2010 cast); Antony Eden and Patrick Drury starred in the 9000th performance in 2011; David Acton and Ben Deery also appeared in 2011; Malcom James and Matt Conner (2016 cast); Stuart Fox and Joseph Chance joined the show from Nov 2016, with Fox reprising his role from 2-years prior; Terence Wilton and James Byng (2017); Richard Hope and Mark Hawkins starred in the 12000th performance in 2018.
Julian Forsyth & Matthew Spencer, who will see out the show in London’s West End played the 13000th performance on Saturday 13 August 2022.
It was announced in November 2022 that it would close after 33-years by Producer Peter Wilson who said “the economic reality of attracting so many young people has caught up with us in a world of rising prices.”
THE WOMAN IN BLACK – UK TOUR LISTINGS
WEDNESDAY 6 – SATURDAY 9 SEPTEMBER 2023
Wolverhampton Grand Theatre
MONDAY 18 – SATURDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2023
New Theatre, Cardiff
MONDAY 25 – SATURDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2023
Billingham Forum
MONDAY 2 – SATURDAY 7 OCTOBER 2023
Opera House, Buxton
MONDAY 16 – SATURDAY 21 OCTOBER 2023
Southend Palace
MONDAY 13 – SATURDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2023
Theatre Royal, Richmond
MONDAY 20 – SATURDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2023
Poole Lighthouse
MONDAY 27 – SATURDAY 2 DECEMBER 2023
Theatre Royal, Nottingham
TUESDAY 5 – SATURDAY 30 DECEMBER 2023
Liverpool Playhouse
MONDAY 15 – SATURDAY 20 JANUARY 2024
Theatre Royal Norwich
MONDAY 22 – SATURDAY 27 JANUARY 2024
Hall for Cornwall
MONDAY 29 – SATURDAY 3 FEBRUARY 2024
Grand Opera House, York
MONDAY 5 – SATURDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2024
The Alexandra, Birmingham
MONDAY 19 – SATURDAY 24 FEBRUARY 2024
Bradford Alhambra
MONDAY 26 – SATURDAY 2 MARCH 2024
Theatre Royal, Brighton
MONDAY 4 – SATURDAY 9 MARCH 2024
Ipswich Regent Theatre
MONDAY 11 – SATURDAY 16 MARCH 2023
Theatre Royal Bath
MONDAY 25 – SATURDAY 30 MARCH 2024
Theatre Royal, Glasgow
TUESDAY 2 – SATURDAY 6 APRIL 2024
Milton Keynes Theatre
MONDAY 8 – SATURDAY 13 APRIL 2024
The Orchard Theatre, Dartford
MONDAY 15 – SATURDAY 20 APRIL 2024
Wycombe Swan
MONDAY 22 – SATURDAY 27 APRIL 2024
Lyceum Theatre, Crewe
