But when Mr Kipps got downstairs, a dark, Red light marked the door, which immediately represented the door as something important. The Red light represented a sense of evil, and that something dangerous was behind the door. It also sent a message to the audience, which was a warning to the actor for him not to go through that door. The first word that sprung to the audience was stop, relating to the colour Red. This also gave the play an eery and spooky effect.
Mr Kipps then reached towards the door handle slowly, and as he kept trying to open the door, this made the audience not want to look, for they were expecting some sort of a monster or ghost to appear. After a few seconds of him trying to open the door, a recording of a young woman and a young boys screams were played when they died on the pony and trap. This recording made the audience scream with terror, and filled the play with anxiety and shock. The recording also represents what will happen to Mr Kipps wife and child when they go on a pony and trap, for later on in the play we are informed that seeing the woman in black twice is followed by the death of a child.
We used marking the moment at the end of our performance. Sarah narrated on the stage block, and me and Adelade sat on two chairs behind the block with our backs to the audience. We did this, so when we bung our feet on the edge of the block, the audience would not know where it was coming from, for they could not see our feet. This would create tension in the audience, for it would relate to the woman in blacks presence. Emily slowly walked towards the audience with a serious look on her face, which would make the audience scared, for it was like she was coming for them. It would also remind them that children were always the ones to die when their parents saw the woman in black. Emilys costume also got her more involved in the role, for she wore a black bonnet and dress. The colour black represents doom and emptiness, which relates to how the woman in blacks life was a tradejy, and how her sons life was doomed.
Role play was also used, because the narrator kept on switching to the role of Keckwick. Role play is basically when a certain character takes on the role of another character by taking their thoughts, feelings and emotions. This would also make the audience feel more personally involved, and will help them understand about different characters. This was effective in the play, because it helped the audience understand how alone Mr Kipps felt at Eel Marsh house, and how much of a comfort Keckwick was to him. This relates to the death on the pony and trap, for Mr Kipps experiences the haunting of the young womans and youngs boys death on the pony and trap. Everytime Keckwick arrives at Eel Marsh house on his pony and trap, Mr Kipps is terrified for he thinks it is the haunted noise he keeps on hearing. This conveys to the audience how Mr Kipps does not realise that his child will be next to die on a pony and trap.
A scene that relates to this is at the end when Mr Kipps wife and son get killed on the pony and trap. At first, Mr Kipps narrates about how it was a lovely, sunny day, and how there were children rolling about on the grass with stalls selling ices and fruits. This completely calms the audience down, and makes them think that Mr Kipps troubles with the woman in black are all over. The lighting was a flood of bright, white light, which would also relax the audience, for they would expect nothing scary to happen.
There is a recorded noise of the pony and trap going away, then all of a sudden the lighting turns to a really dim grey, and the woman in black steps out from behind the curtain. Then the audience hears the recording of the screaming again, but this time, it represents Stella and her child. This happened really quick, and would of completely shocked the audience, for no suspense was built up towards this event. The dim, grey light would of created a really ghostly, nightmarish sort of scene, and would show how dispaired and upset Mr Kipps felt when he realised he had lost the ones he loved.
In my performance, I used role play when I switched from the act of Stella to the role of Mr Kipps. This helped me to understand how Stella and her son were completely innocent victims, and how petrifyed they felt when they were dying and had nobody around to help them. It also helped me to understand that it must have been a really horrible experience for the woman in black when she was isolated from her one and only child, and how she felt like nobody else should have the chance to settle down with a happy family, because she never got the chance to.
It also helped me understand that you do not know what it feels like to lose a child until you have been through it yourself, and that you should never take anyone elses child as your own, for revenge will happen later on. When me and Adelade were having a conversation towards the end about the woman in black, we had a white spot light on us. This emphasized the woman in black, and how she affected Mr Kipps life emotionally. It also helped me understand that if Mr Kipps did not stay at Eel Marsh house, he would not have looked further into Jennet Humfryes life history, and got involved with the woman in Black.
