Millennium Forum fear as The Woman in Black grips audiences

But what I do have are two teenage daughters who love the genre - movies, books, theatre.... the creepier the better as far as they are concerned. I only mention that by way of diminished responsibility for the predicament my wife and I found ourselves in this week at the Millennium Forum.

Prior to Tuesday my knowledge of 'The Woman in Black' was restricted to a vague recollection of a 2012 Daniel Radcliffe movie I hadn't seen that was based on a best selling novel by Susan Hill.

As I say, horror isn't normally my thing. However, maybe it should have been. Or maybe I should just have been slightly more curious when those aforementioned daughters encouraged their blissfully unaware parents along to The Forum.

Pre-performance warnings by well meaning, wide eyed Forum patrons obviously better informed than myself were dismissed as hype. Sure don't all the best horror stories begin in either denial or ignorance? Mine, it appeared, would be no different. Enter through Door A..…

For more than 33 years the dark, gothic tale of solicitor Arthur Kipps has held West End audiences spellbound across over 13,000 performances watched by more than seven million people in the UK. Indeed it’s the second longest running play in West End history and for very good reason.

Originally adapted for the stage by Stephen Mallatratt in 1987, it's story told through the eyes of the troubled Kipps - portrayed superbly by Malcolm James - after his refusal to share ghost stories with his family one Christmas Even night. His behaviour hints at something more than a mere story haunting his past.

So troubled by these memories is Kipps that he believes his only option is to put his experiences down on paper in the hope of exorcising the grip they have on him. He hires a somewhat sceptical actor - the excellent Mark Hawkins - to help tell his story. And it's one which had me shifting uneasily in my seat with more than a few genuine screams (or jump scares as I'm told the modern generation refers to them!) thrown in just when you begin to settle.

The backdrop is everything you'd expect from a West End production but the minimalist nature of the stage set-up places a huge emphasis on the strength of performance of the two lead actors but they deliver in bucket loads. In fact it's easy to imagine the story faltering in the wrong hands but both James and Hawkins are brilliant as they retrace the source of Kipps' nightmares which are based around an old remote house belonging to the mysterious Mrs. Drablow.

The play is old fashioned story telling at it's best. It draws its audience in slowly with a gradual building of suspense, throws out quite a few laughs to convince onlookers that maybe, just maybe, that sense of dread is only in their heads after all. (Spoiler Alert: It isn't!).

The terror is really ramped up in the second half of the show as Kipps and his company begin to blur the lines between what's real and what's imagined; who can be saved and who is already lost to 'The Woman in Black'. Hearts quicken and scares hasten as we build to a fitting finale equipped, as all great stories are, with one last twist to ensure everyone leaves looking over their shoulder on the walk home!

But that's the only downside. We loved every minute of a story and production brought to life by the breathtaking performances of the two lead actors in whose shoes the audience tread throughout. Just be prepared to leave the lights on a bit longer the night you watch it!

The Woman In Black performs at the Millennium Forum until Saturday 25th May.

Tickets are now on sale from the Box Office. Telephone 71 264455 (option 1) or visit millenniumforum.co.uk for bookings.