★★★★
If you can’t trust yourself then who can you trust? With alcohol addled memories, Rachel Watson (Louisa Lytton) finds herself embroiled in a criminal investigation when the perfect couple she sees from the train every day is torn apart. As she tries in vain to remember the missing pieces, the mystery surrounding a woman’s disappearance deepens.
The Girl on the Train, performed at Liverpool’s Playhouse Theatre and based on the best-selling book of the same name by Paula Hawkins, is adapted seamlessly for the stage by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel. Blending whirling projections with different levels and windows of the set, the cast appear and disappear eerily at will. From the train station to the suburbs to the loneliness of Rachel’s flat, the audience are hurled through her life as the mystery of the disappearance of Megan Hipwell (Natalie Dunne) starts to unravel.
Utterly compelling as Rachel, Lytton captures her desperate need to escape her own tumultuous life through distraction. Complemented by the stark portrayal of dry-humoured D.I. Gaskill (Paul McEwan), the duo are fresh and captivating onstage amidst the chilling twists and turns of the plot. Slick scene changes amplify the passing of time as the tension amps up throughout the performance. The choreography of the ensemble—from passengers on a train to frantic energy in a packed nightclub—is immersive and gripping, as it transports the audience into the past and back to the present with ease.
The script toes the line of drama without overdoing it. There is an appreciated sprinkling of humour to cut through the tension, and well-paced scenes as Rachel tries to unpick the situation in frustration as other characters flit into and out of the mix. The Girl on the Train is a masterpiece in lighting and sound as the atmosphere heightens.
A feat of displaying manipulation, impressive physical theatre and using the stage to its capacity leaves the audience hanging on every word of the performance. Effective technology and stage design only magnify the suspense as each character convinces and beguiles as their part in the ever-evolving plot. Cleverly concocted from Rachel’s point of view, the narrative spins outwards as the holes in her memory start to unwind.
The Girl on the Train is woven together into a striking, subtly comic tour de force of how to transform a crime drama novel onto the stage. Fast-paced and mesmeric, the performance will hold you in its grasp from start to finish—and if you haven’t been privy to the hit book or film, it’ll keep you guessing right until the end too.
The Girl on the Train will be performed at Liverpool’s Playhouse Theatre until 17 May.
Words by Hannah Goldswain
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