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Laura Whitmore as Rachel, the girl on the train The Girl on the Train Malvern Theatres ***** Melting Pot Productions and Josh Andrews have produced a brilliantly dramatic and successful show for the audiences in Malvern this week. From the tableau and dramatic choreography of the opening, when the lights in the auditorium go down, this show was gripping and thought-provoking at the same time. Rachel Watson, the central character, has turned to alcohol to cope with her troubled plight: divorced from her husband Tom and dismissed from her job for unprofessional conduct, she continues to travel up to London to give her a sense of purpose and a reason to get out of bed. She uses the journey to observe through the window of the train her ex-husband and his new wife and baby, but also their near neighbours Scott and Megan, about whom she develops an idealised image of marital bliss and harmony. When Megan disappears, the police visit, looking for witnesses and help to identify what has happened to her. The unfolding of the plot is fascinating and introduces us to intriguing characters, including the detective and the therapist/counsellor. The play also explores some serious themes such as infertility, marital tensions and unfaithfulness, jealousy and domestic violence, memory and how it plays games with us and how we play games with it. The acting is of a high order. Laura Whitmore captures the muddle of Rachel’s character, the lostness, grief and angst, with great sensitivity. She is surrounded by a strong cast who are fortunate to all have interesting characters to enact. The sarcastic detective DI Gaskill is played with conviction by Paul McEwan; Daniel Burke plays the psychotherapist who blurs the lines between his professional and personal life; Zena Carswell (Anna Watson) and Freya Parks (Megan Hipwell) have some powerful dramatic moments and Edward Harrison (Tom Watson) and Samuel Collings (Scott Hipwell) complete a strong and excellent cast. The staging and design, the music and the projections all contribute to a highly charged atmosphere. The show moves with great pace and energy. We are gripped by the plot and inevitably fascinated to note the twists and turns and the shifting suspicions around many of the characters. We feel real empathy with many of these lost, middle-class and somewhat decadent individuals who are pained by the fragmentation of our modern, so-called civilised society, and are victims of its loss of traditional values and loyalties. The play combines the enjoyment of a whodunnit with serious reflection on important themes and provides brilliant theatre. It runs till Saturday 21st June. Tim Crow 17-06-25 |
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