By Dan O’Farrell.
Sometimes the black holes in a person’s memory can create a thrilling sense of mystery…at least, that was my take-away from tonight’s mesmerising visit to Mayflower Theatre to watch the opening Southampton performance of ‘The Girl On The Train’. The black hole that most affected me, as it happens, is the one in my own ageing brain that helped me forget the plot-twists of this deeply engrossing story, despite reading Paula Hawkins’ original novel in the same summer of 2016 that everyone else seemed to read it. Thank heavens for my creaky recall.
There has, of course, been a successful film version in the meantime, so a theatrical adaptation needs to work hard to earn its place and audience. Surely this story – based on the pleasingly simple premise of a crucial moment in a crime witnessed from the window of a passing commuter train – has given up all its secrets already? Luckily, this touring production works extremely hard from the outset to tell this psychologically dark, Hitchcockian tale in a refreshingly different way, using an amazing set, projections and skull-shattering sound-cues to consistently draw audience members to the edge of our seats before pinning us back in shock once more.
It’s worth noting that such finely-honed staging does not spring from nowhere, nor does it appear at large theatres like Southampton’s Mayflower without some core creativity in a smaller setting first. This production of ‘The Girl On The Train’ was initially produced by Wiltshire Creative, meaning that its three-panel, translucent and back-projected design was first brought to life in the smaller surrounds of Salisbury Playhouse. Yet another argument – if any were needed – that regional theatres richly deserve the Arts Council funding that helps them take risks on new ideas before the bigger producers and theatres put them before the larger audiences.
If the play was purely about the staging, however, there would be something missing. From the standing ovation at the end, it’s clear that many in tonight’s crowd are here for the star performer: Laura Whitmore, best known for her TV work as presenter of ‘Love Island’. ‘Celebrity Juice’ and her documentary series. Whitmore is excellent here as Rachel Watson, appearing in every scene and teasing at the strands of the mystery like a private investigator gone rogue on vodka and sauvignon blanc. The script teases us with the central idea of Rachel’s unreliability, the seemingly drink-induced ‘black holes’ in her memory that make all the other characters doubt her every instinct. Whitmore brings a wide-eyed likeability to the role, helped by her soft Irish tones, enabling the audience to root for her even when the evidence suggests that she’s too far gone in drink to be making much sense.
The supporting cast also does a great job. Samuel Collings gets the biggest tension-relieving laughs as Scott Hipwell, husband of the missing woman – Megan – at the centre of the mystery, as he swears in bug-eyed disbelief at each new slurred revelation from the interfering Rachel. Freya Parks also provides one of the night’s most moving moments, reliving in flashback a pitiful memory from Megan’s past. Most impressively, the whole cast form an ensemble during the crucial train scenes, suggesting the commuting hordes through whip-sharp choreography and finely-tuned physical detail. The whole thing has a beautifully impressionistic feeling during these moments, closer to interpretative dance than crime drama.
So…setting, production and cast are all spectacular, which only leaves the script. Here again, Hawkins’ best-selling original story has been tweaked and re-structured by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel, creating a coherent and fast-paced narrative out of a potentially confusing story of fractured memory and overlapping time-periods. This focus lets the novel’s themes shine out all the more brightly: motherhood, manipulation and memory. All are explored through dialogue and action; ideas are foreshadowed – often half-jokingly – in Act 1, only to come to full dramatic fruition in Act 2. It made me feel both guilty and grateful for forgetting so much of the book, and left a lasting impression beyond the satisfying conclusion of the ‘whodunnit’.
‘The Girl On The Train’ is at Mayflower Theatre until Saturday 26th July. I thoroughly recommend it for anyone looking for a true edge-of-the-seat thriller told with innovative staging and memorable performances.
Tickets are on sale at mayflower.org.uk or 02380 711811.
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Interview: Laura Whitmore ahead of her role as Rachel Watson in The Girl on the Train