James Bleecker in The Woman in Black There's an awful lot going on in the Harrison Hilltop Theatre's current presentation of the ghost story The Woman in Black - including two concurrent storylines, a wealth of exposition, a pair of actors taking on multiple roles and perspectives, and sound and lighting effects galore - and it winds up being much too much. But I'm generally happier watching a theatrical production that aims for the stars and doesn't get there than one that doesn't reach at all, so it was still easy to enjoy this wildly ambitious, if ultimately disappointing, presentation; I had just enough fun at Saturday's performance to regret not having more fun.

A night of reviewing a theatrical production doesn't usually leave me shuffling about the house in my pajamas, checking closets and under the bed for ghosts. But Susan Hill's thriller Woman in Black at Playcrafters Barn Theatre was just chilling enough to send me scurrying under the safety of my bedspread, eyes shut tight to whatever roamed my imagination.