Kauai Community Players' Three-Performer The Woman in Black Opens Friday in Puhi

Kauai Community Players opened its 2026 season with a three-performer production of The Woman in Black at the Puhi Theatrical Warehouse, presenting a pared-down, atmosphere-driven take on Susan Hill’s novella. The limited cast and emphasis on suggestion over spectacle aim to deliver an intimate theatrical experience for Kauai audiences while stretching the company’s technical and creative resources.

Laurel McGraw directs the production, which company representatives described as the first show of the year. Performances ran Thursdays through Saturdays at 7 p.m., with Sunday matinees beginning at 4 p.m., and the run continues through Feb. 15. Tickets are available through the Kauai Community Players’ website.

Company representative Liz Hahn framed the piece as a study in restraint and imagination. “’The Woman in Black’ is a minimalist, two-actor (plus Woman in Black) horror play that relies on atmosphere, suggestion and the audience’s imagination rather than elaborate sets or effects,” Hahn said. Hahn also noted the production’s approach to staging: “The story unfolds as a play within a play where a man attempts to exorcise a traumatic experience by having it performed onstage, only for the horror to reassert itself.” Hahn added that “there will be only three performers, but a lot of special effects when the curtains open Friday on ‘The Woman in Black,’ at the Puhi Theatrical Warehouse.”

McGraw described the adaptation’s tonal lineage and the production’s intent. “’The Woman in Black’ is an entirely different experience,” McGraw said. “This play begins with the Victorian, English tradition of telling ghost stories before bed - how Steven Maliatratt has adapted Susan Hill’s novella honors this tradition.”

Rehearsal images by Dennis Fujimoto captured moments of the company at work, including Ron Soderstrom staged amid a storm sequence and actors gathered to discuss a will. One published caption used the wording “Hawaii Community Player’s” in reference to the rehearsal; the company is identified elsewhere in publicity and program materials as Kauai Community Players, and that caption appears to be a typographical inconsistency.

For context, many productions of this adaptation favor a two-actor framework in which a narrator reads from a manuscript while an actor enacts the scenes, with role-doubling creating immediacy and tension. A 2021 regional staging in Fort Myers used that same structural approach to build intimacy and to let sound and lighting carry much of the fright.

Local impact is straightforward: the show provides cultural programming in Puhi, supports local performers and technicians, and brings audience members into a small, focused venue where imagination and design choices drive the experience. Public materials supplied with the announcement did not list a full cast, ticket prices, running time or detailed technical credits; those items remain points for follow-up. Residents interested in attending should check the Kauai Community Players website for the latest availability and production updates as the run continues through Feb. 15.