Louisa Lytton in The Girl on the Train (photo by Danny Kaan).
Girl on the Train, The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham.
The Girl on the Train is a 2015 novel by Paula Hawkins which topped the New York Times best sellers list for thirteen weeks upon release. The movie rights were acquired before it was even published and the film starring Emily Blunt was released a year later – also to great success.
This is the stage adaptation of both.
It follows a young woman called Rachel. Rachel is “problematic”. She has a drinking problem and often wakes up with black holes in her memory of the night before. Due to this she lost her job six months ago but she still gets up and gets her morning train, spends the day out, and returns on her usual evening train so no one will know she’s lost her job. That train goes past the house where her ex-husband (who she also lost due to her drinking) lives with his new wife and child – something that she is struggling to accept. On this journey she also passes the house of another couple who live nearby, whose goings on she watches through the window on a daily basis. She initially envies their “perfect” life but then sees the woman with other men and believes she is cheating.
After one of her heavy nights she awakens with a cut on her head and little memory of the night before. She is visited by the police who tell her that the woman who she watches from the train is missing, and Rachel’s ex-husband’s new wife has reported her as a person of interest as she had been seen in the area.
Rachel must now fight for her innocence (if she is innocent) and try and piece together what happened.
This is a superb psychological thriller which keeps you guessing til the very end. It’s fast paced and brilliantly directed by Loveday Ingram – almost choreographed. The staging works extremely well and the simplistic set is created with lighting boxes, and video.
Louisa Lytton (EastEnders) is superb as the central character, bringing everything required for us to invest in her story. Very believable. The rest of the cast are also excellent – particularly Samuel Collings who plays the missing woman’s husband Scott.
If you like a thriller and a great story you won’t be disappointed.
4 stars. A slick and stylish thrill ride.
