This cleverly staged adaptation of Paula Hawkins extremely popular 2015 novel, combines a brilliantly told and thrilling murder mystery story with social realism and an emotionally convincing, sympathetic realisation of its central character. Alan Long reviews...
OUR VERDICT
Rachel Watson, a young woman depressed by the failure of her marriage and her inability to have a baby, has become a compulsive drinker. Her loneliness and feelings of worthlessness are made more painful by the seemingly successful remarriage of her former husband Tom who lives nearby with his new wife, Anna, and their baby. From a train on her daily commute to a now non-existent job, Rachel glimpses an apparently loving couple, to whom she gives names, Jess and Jason, and for whom she imagines perfect lives. She comes to know that their real names are Megan and Scott and that they are neighbours and friends of Tom and Anna.
Megan disappears and is found murdered. Rachel, having seen what she believes is a key incident, propels herself into the ensuing investigation and despite her unreliability as a witness (her drinking leaves many blanks in her memory) becomes its driving force and conscience. She sees Megan as a victim of the men in her life and demands full knowledge and a sympathetic understanding of her motives and actions.
The drama of the genre murder mystery is given added human interest by the skilful weaving in of some deeply felt problems: the grief of the childless would-be mother; drinking as a reaction to failure and loneliness; the pain caused by infidelity and betrayal; the superficiality and deceptiveness of appearances in social life, made even more so by social media.
Samantha Womack gives a mesmeric performance as Rachel, is part of and gives meaning to every scene, holds together all the elements and brings clarity to a complex story from beginning to end, as Rachel’s alcohol-induced confusions are resolved. The tense emotional atmosphere is relieved from time to time by her self-deprecating and amusing asides and by Inspector Gaskill’s (John Dougall) wry humour.
The overall high quality of the play is diluted only very slightly by some genre clichés in a rather shouty argument just before the end: ‘If you hadn’t been there, how could you have known that he threatened to kill her’, etc, etc.
The commuter train milieu is made real by the deft use of sound effects lighting and screen resembling a passenger carriage seen from the outside.
The evening ends with a brilliant and breathtaking shock and awe denouement.
Venue: Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford
Dates: Until 13 July
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