YORK Theatre Royal goes back to black to welcome the return of Susan Hill's chilling tale The Woman In Black from Monday, having played host to the ghost story last year.

Made in Yorkshire, transported across the world, Stephen Mallatratt's stage adaptation for the Stephen Joseph Theatre continues to be directed by Robin Herford, who has overseen every production, from Scarborough in 1987 to the West End and Japan.

For the latest tour of Mallatratt's film noir-style two-hander he has selected MalcolmJames to play solicitor Arthur Kipps, a man haunted by events 30 years earlier, who must re-enact them with the Actor, played by Matt Connor. In a bid to exorcise those demons of the past, Kipps hires the Actor to help him tell his story, drawing the audience into a terrifying and ghostly world where the cries from a small boy sinking to his death in the marshes and the screams of the grief-stricken Woman In Black will haunt you, as they have Mr Kipps, for a long time.

Malcolm and Matt have never worked together previously.

"In fact we met for the first time at the stage door for the first day of rehearsals, having auditioned separately, but Robin seemed to pick up that we would work well together," says Malcolm.

"He didn't recall us for a second audition; he just had a sense that we would make a good partnership, and though it's still early days on the tour, he looks to have been proven right as it's going well."

Robin enjoys seeing the different nuances that each double act brings to the play. "He doesn't keep a track record of how many casts he has directed, as he has directed them all, even in Japan, but he says that each time it sounds a little different in the way each cast interprets it."

The end result is always plenty of chills and thrills.

"It works because it's all happening live in front of the audience, who of course don't know when the shocks will come, so they just buy into it and become very tense. The edge-of-seat tension becomes palpable as they wait for the Woman in Black's next appearance," says Malcolm.

"And yet every audience is different; some scream louder than others, so you never know what to expect. It's a wonderful journey at every performance.

"I shall enjoy us traumatising people in the weeks ahead. They love going home having been scared, which is why there's a tradition of ghost stories on stage, like the old Victorian melodramas."

Malcolm particularly relishes how Mallatratt opens the play with shards of humour, as if to throw the audience off the scent initially.

"It's a very clever disarming device, where you come along expecting to be scared but at first it's rather funny, because Kipps can't tell his story very well, but then you realise why, because he'd been very traumatised."

At that point, the cloak of darkness descends and The Woman In Black will have you on tenterhooks again.

• The Woman In Black, York Theatre Royal, Monday to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2pm, Thursday, and 2.30pm, Saturday. To join the seven million people who have seen the play worldwide, ring 01904 623568 or book online at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk