IT could be I'm a lot braver than I thought. Either that or Malvern theatregoers are a nervous lot, judging from the jangled nerves on display during this touring production of Woman in Black.

Visitors to a national website have consistently rated this West End show, adapted from the novel by Susan Hill, five-star for thrills and chills, but I found it more Hammer House of Horror than genuinely hair-raising - and that is not the criticism it sounds. The play is a good old-fashioned romp.

Arthur Kipps (Robert Demeger) has called on the services of an actor (Timothy Watson) to help him with the performance of his account of a supernatural tragedy which has haunted his life.

By recounting the story to his family for the first time, he hopes to exorcise its terrible memory.

The first half begins slowly and comically as the pair slip in and out of character - the actor as the young Kipps; Kipps as every other character before an enactment of the story proper in the second half.

It is here that the tension begins to build. A minimal amount of props, sounds and a judicious blast of dry ice are used to enormously entertaining effect. Not pitch perfect but pretty good. PW