IT is known as one of the spookiest live experiences in the history of theatre, but not only has the Woman in Black given audiences goosebumps for more than 25 years – it has also left its cast unsettled.

The tale of the vengeful ghostly figure has unnerved even the most rational spectators with its cunning blend of spectral lighting, haunting music and spine-chilling and unpredictable apparitions.

Even Matt Connor, who plays the young actor hired by Arthur Kipps to re-enact his traumatic encounter with the woman in black, found himself tense, unusually jumpy and nervous during the first weeks of rehearsals in London.

“I was known to have a few frights in rehearsal,” he said.

“We rehearsed at the Fortune Theatre in the West End and we had all the lights, sounds and costumes ready to go.

“There were times when I would be creeping in the dark and I was not ready for a certain sound.

“I was jumpy for a few weeks, I really was.”

As nerve-racking as rehearsals were, these raw emotions have proved an asset since touring began four weeks ago.

“I was genuinely unnerved and that’s what I have to do in the show,” he explained. “The character I play experiences it for the first time.”

Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s best-selling novel follows solicitor Arthur Kipps, who has become obsessed with a curse he believes has been cast over him and his family by the spectre of a woman in black. He hires a young actor to help him tell his story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul. Their apparently benign ‘re-enactment’ begins innocently enough, but as they reach further into his darkest memories, they find themselves caught up in a world of eerie marshes and moaning winds. The borders between make believe and reality start to blur and the flesh begins to creep.

Sustaining the haunting tension and stirring audiences’ fears while impersonating several characters each was one of Matt and Malcolm’s greatest acting challenges.

“It’s a great challenge,” said Malcolm James, who plays Matt’s counterpart, Arthur Kipps.

“It has been going in the West End for so long and the audience have certain expectations – we didn’t want to let it down.

“It’s a very exciting, very unpredictable show. It’s a two-hander and I play six or seven characters, so hopefully they all come across as different characters but the audience are great and they buy into it and play along. It’s great.”

Coping with their unpredictable reactions to the most chilling scenes – which have covered anything from flinching, audibly shrieking to full-blown screaming, giggling and unwitting swearing – brought another level of complexity to their already daunting task, however.

“If you were to get distracted by someone swearing in the audience it would break the illusion,” added Matt.

“We have had people swearing and some have made strange noises.

“One woman actually said at one point ‘That’s done it for me’ after a particularly scary moment.

“We heard it, the audience heard it. When people are so on edge, you don’t know what they are going to do.”

The Woman in Black will run at the Wyvern Theatre from Monday, November 24 to Saturday November, 29. Tickets cost between £18 and £26. To book, visit swindontheatres.co.uk or call the ticket office on 01793 524481.

– MARION SAUVEBOIS