Do you believe in ghosts? According to a 2009 CBS News poll, more Americans say they do than don't, and over one in five say they've experienced paranormal activity. There's a specter running loose in Lakewood Playhouse right now, in a masterful production that demonstrates what talent, commitment, hard work, and impeccable direction can accomplish on a relatively minor budget.

Here's the setup, inherited from Susan Hill's faux-Gothic novella: Arthur Kipps, a young solicitor from London, travels to a desolate, fog-shrouded village on the coast of eastern England to process the estate of the recently deceased Mrs. Drablow. The locals offer little help with this assignment; only one dares cross a treacherous low-tide causeway to the island estate. It doesn't take long before Kipps finds he isn't alone in Eel Marsh House; nor will he fulfill this assignment unharmed. Kipps's story is told years later by an actor who finds himself drawn into its creeping allure.

It seems strange that theater can elicit almost any reaction or emotion other than outright fear. I won't say you'll be terrified by The Woman in Black - a few chills, I suppose, but nothing to make wearing Depends a necessity. What you'll be is impressed.

Read Christian Carvajal's full review of The Woman in Black in the Weekly Volcano's Arts section.

LAKEWOOD PLAYHOUSE, THE WOMAN IN BLACK, THROUGH MARCH 17, 8 P.M. FRIDAY-SATURDAY, 2 P.M. SUNDAY, $18-24, 5729 LAKEWOOD TOWNE CENTER BLVD., LAKEWOOD, 253.588.0042