King’s Theatre, Edinburgh – until 30 March 2019
Reviewed by James Knight
2**
Rachel Watson (Samantha Womack) is a mess. Alcoholic and depressed, unable to live the life of which she had dreamed with her now ex-husband Tom (Adam Jackson-Smith), she watches the people she can see from her train journeys and imagines who they are, who they could be, and what it might be like to live as them. In particular, she focuses on Megan and Scott Hipwell (Kirsty Oswald and Oliver Farnworth), or as she imagines them, Jess and Jason. Of course, surely nothing could come of the fact that they live just a few doors down from Rachel’s ex and his new family? So when Megan goes missing, and Rachel has gaps in her memory, the stage is set for an intimate thriller.
The Girl on the Train was a stunning success as a book and film, and so, naturally, producers wanted to turn it into a theatrical production. The end product is, like Rachel’s memory, lacking in clarity. Apart from some clever uses of light and projection, and strong performances from the supporting characters of D.I. Gaskill (John Dougall) and Anna Watson (Lowenna Melrose), the term ‘thriller’ cannot truly be applied to the lack of enthusiasm in almost any other aspect. The stakes simply do not feel high enough. Without the use of multiple points of view from the book, and the visual language of the film, the stage version suffers. Not that the book is un-stageable, far from it, but the determinedness to present the events as naturalistically as possible means that when the more stylistic interpretations of Rachel’s memories and drunken stupors are shown, it comes across as forced and jarring.
The lack of effort is particularly frustrating as actors speak words and step to their marks to deliver them, with little thought or intention. Little is done to convince the audience to care for Rachel’s predicament and too many scenes just devolve into shouting clunky and cliched dialogue. The second half is a marked improvement on the first, as events and revelations come to light, but by then it is difficult to stay engaged.
The original production at the West Yorkshire Playhouse was slated critically, and it seems little has been done to improve on what was not working.