The Woman in Black comes to Stage Ten Seventeen

Stage Ten Seventeen is celebrating this spooky season with performances of The Woman in Black, a play based on a Susan Hill novel of the same name.

Although the show is hitting the Ashwaubenon stage for the first time, it’s one that’s been on Director Erick James Gyrion’s mind for years.

“This has actually been on my director list for many years,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to do it and the rights were never available because of its successful run in London. And now in our small little theater space in Green Bay, when I saw that the rights became available, I jumped on it right away… There’s some elements that are on the stage that I’ve had for all of those 15 years in hopes of doing the show at some point in my life — props and things that I’ve picked up and they finally get to make their stage debut.”

The show features only two actors, who Gyrion said have truly stepped up to the challenge.

“Being a two-person show, it’s really physically demanding for those actors, especially in a community theater setting,” he said. “Our actors are fantastic — I think some of the best I’ve worked with on stage at a community level to take on those roles like that. The minute they step on stage, they’re on for the whole show. Some of them have three-page monologues of lines that they’re memorizing, as well as changing into upwards of 12 or 15 characters.”

With such a small cast, Gyrion said all the elements of the play come together to immerse the audience in the world of the show.

“The first 20 minutes, like in any horror movie, are kind of slower, but it really sets up the stage for you,” he said. “The first 20 minutes of the show really helps the audience understand why the setting has only two people and that it’s going to be multiple characters and that we’re going through all these different locations. It’s not big, lavish sets that are transporting you, but that’s one of the coolest things. It relies a lot on the audience’s imagination and between the script, the actors, the set and the effects, it’s such a great amalgamation that transports everybody there.”

Gyrion and his cast transport audiences through The Woman in Black with sights and sounds, and also smells.

“I come from the haunted attraction and entertainment industry where scent is used,” he said. “Scent is a huge part to trigger thoughts and transport you to a certain place… It really sets the mood and tone for the show… There’s one line specifically that says ‘a sweet, simple, musty smell of the mansion’ and so that’s exactly what we went with.”

Visit stage1017.com to learn more.