The world premiere of the stage adaptation of Paula Hawkins’ hugely successful novel, The Girl on the Train comes to the Courtyard Theatre where LEO OWEN caught the show

POPULAR TV actress, Jill Halfpenny, plays our unreliable narrator Rachel, a troubled alcoholic who tries to uncover the mystery of what has happened to her ex-husband’s missing neighbour, Megan (Florence Hall), while battling to control her emotions as she faces her ex, Tom (Adam Best), and his new wife, Anna (Sarah Ovens).

Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abe’s adaptation ambitiously takes source material told from three narrative perspectives, condensing material from the complexity of a novel to several hours of stage time. For this reason, fans of the 2015 book or 2016 Dreamworks’ film will find it nigh on impossible not to play “spot the difference”. Predominantly taking Rachel’s perspective, it lacks the first-person diary entries with Anna’s story completely under-developed while Megan’s is told through flashbacks as Rachel probes characters and others recall conversations they had with her. Some characters from the novel are merged together while others are entirely omitted but none of these changes detract from the story.

Designer Lily Arnold’s set is stripped back to essentials with the dimensions of a train carriage: white lit concentric rectangular boxes are almost engulfed by their surrounding black background. The central character, Rachel, forces herself into other’s lives, her issues, like the set, boxing her in.

Locations confusingly rapidly shift from place to place with sometimes no more than the lighting changing, aiming to mirror the blurring of Rachel’s memories. Arnold’s minimalist approach works metaphorically but is confusing at times when a stunning focal wall hanging appears on set across locations. Featuring a central black hole, it represents Rachel being sucked into Megan’s life and alcoholism. The space above and in front of the set is not fully utilised to its full potential. The opening exchange between DI Gaskill (Colin Tierney) and the titular character seems ridiculous as she’s aided clearing up a “mess”, comprised of nothing more than a few items. There are no costume changes with characters confusingly wearing the same for scenes spanning multiple timescales.

However, a good move by Director Joe Murphy is avoiding recreating an actual train carriage and instead having train noises and lights to signify scene changes and ensure that the rail track permeates throughout. Character positioning is carefully choreographed for flashbacks, but some entrances feel ill-considered. A drawn-out act one crawls to an end and act two thankfully picks up the pace with a particularly compelling scene between Rachel and Tom.

A straight dramatic interpretation exploring memory, its impact and manipulation, this Girl on a Train is unfortunately lacking the pace or mystique of the novel. Despite its faults, to its credit it does manage to highlight Hawkins’ different representations of motherhood and femininity with a mother, one expecting woman and an infertile character. Its altered ending includes a poetic final exchange between Rachel and DI Gaskill with neat references to the title: “a girl…a woman on a train…alone but stranger than she ever knew…moving on – not looking back”. Those new to the story will likely love it or muddle through while Hawkins’ fans will find it difficult not to judge.

The Girl on The Train shows at The West Yorkshire Playhouse 12 May-9 June before embarking on a UK tour: https://www.wyp.org.uk/events/the-girl-on-the-train/