BINGEN — There’s a dark presence lurking in Bingen. A woman, dressed in black, quietly haunts the streets, prodding people towards the stage. Her play, “The Woman in Black,” which debuted at The Bingen Theater on Oct. 3, dares audiences to step outside their theatrical comfort zone and confront her once and for all.
Based on the novel by Susan Hill and adapted for the stage by Stephen Mallatratt, “The Woman in Black” is one of theater’s most prominent horror stories, recounting the terrifying encounters of a young lawyer named Arthur Kipps. Attempting to free himself from the grips of a nightmarish past, Kipps hires a young actor to help retell his experiences in front of an empty theater. What begins as a rehearsal transforms into a terrifying embodiment of evil, with The Actor taking on the role of a young Kipps. At the same time, Kipps himself realizes those he encountered along the way.
Director Joe Garoutte
This iteration of “The Woman in Black” is a product of Big Britches Productions (BBP), a community theater company based in the Gorge co-owned by director Joe Garoutte. After earning his bachelor’s degree in theater education from Eastern Oregon University, Garoutte intended to go to grad school and eventually teach theater arts. Those desires were sidelined when he had a family, prompting a move to Goldendale, where he worked in the wine industry.
But in 2012, Garoutte was sucked back into thespian life, auditioning for a play at Columbia Center for the Arts. After relocating to Bingen, he intermittently performed and directed various productions in the area. When the pandemic entered its second year, Garoutte and his wife, April, acquired BBP, where they continue to construct a diverse theater family that reflects the artistic spirit of the Gorge.
Despite the tight-knit circle, running a theater company in a tiny community like Bingen is no small feat. It’s challenging to get people out to any show, much less a horror production. “We do well with comedies and shows that have names people recognize,” Garoutte said. “That’s a narrow window of genres to sink your teeth into.”
With Halloween approaching, Garoutte selected the horror genre as a means to challenge these apparent constraints and help audiences explore a new side of the stage. Close acquaintances pointed to “The Woman in Black” as a prime candidate, claiming it was one of the scariest things they’d ever seen. “This show was a risk because it’s spooky; we haven’t done anything on that end of the spectrum,” Garoutte said. “Frankly, it’s a struggle to get people to understand it’s something worth seeing.”
The Woman in Black
Watching “The Woman in Black,” however, is no struggle — a frightening, technically intricate plunge into darkness that pushes the limits of small-budget, small-town possibility. Garoutte and his mighty cast and crew craft an immersive atmosphere with flashy, colorful effects, eerie surround sound and plenty of fog.
Since Kipps, played by Jim Yue, and The Actor, played by Matt Coughlin, are retelling the story to an empty theater, “The Woman in Black” has a meta quality to it. The audience feels like it’s a part of the in-play universe while the crew actively works with the characters to propel the story forward. For example, when Couglin snaps, the lights dim, indicating Kipps and The Actor are performing a scene from the past. Sometimes, the characters, including the titular phantom, appear in the aisle. The auditorium isn’t just the venue — it’s the setting.
Yue and Coughlin go the extra mile in a two-person show, memorizing countless lines and stage directions to command a two-hour runtime. Yue is a chameleon, shapeshifting into several characters with different British accents. Coughlin’s performance felt like it was plucked straight out of 19th-century England, sporting a pompous, mustache-twirling accent.
Garoutte credited the original playwright for several of the play’s meta and scenic elements, where dialogue dictates sound, lighting and stage direction. But this iteration goes above and beyond on the technical side, utilizing flashing red, green and white lights to obscure and unleash scares. Even when the stage is swallowed by darkness, it’s always clear what’s occurring — credit to some excellent flashlight usage.
The sound design does plenty of heavy lifting, blaring eerie music, creaky footsteps, dogs whimpering, babies crying and other creepy noises from speakers scattered throughout the auditorium. “As a designer, we need to do something to zhuzh it up,” Garoutte said. “It’s either gonna be quiet on purpose or it’s going to have a bed of sound underneath it.”
The set decoration, chiefly comprising ghostly, white sheets and a curious door, does excellent work crafting scares in tandem with the technical production. The old-timey costumes, including one scary black dress, match the era and tone nicely.
Horror might not be everyone’s cup of tea. But the engrossing, up-close-and-personal nature of “The Woman in Black” is well worth the price of admission, even for the faintest of hearts.
“Expect a different style of play,” Garoutte said, encouraging folks to leap into new artistic territory. “We have access to a broader spectrum of work than just comedy.”
“The Woman in Black” runs through Oct. 18. For tickets and more information, visit bigbritches.org.
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