I've a distinct memory of being handed Susan Hill's novel The Woman in Black – back in 1985 – and thinking – before I'd read it – "I wonder if this will make a play?" It's hard to imagine a worse place to read a novel set in the dark chill of a gloomy Edwardian England, than the beach on the island of Naxos where I was on holiday. In spite of the surf and sun, and the clamour from my 8 year old daughter, I was enthralled by the story and genuinely frightened. And, yes – the strength of the narrative and the richness of the characters, made me think there was definitely a play in it.

A couple of years later I was writer in residence at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, and I told the director, Robin Herford, about the novel that had so impressed me on that Greek beach. He read it and felt as I did – there was a play in it, so I asked Susan for permission to adapt it. Thankfully she said yes straight away – the fact of her having grown up in Scarborough and been to some of the early shows at the theatre there probably helped.