By Elly Savva<\/p>\n
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Although following the classic murder mystery story arc, what really entices the audience into this particular story is the venture it allows you into the messiest parts of peoples lives. From just the 12th <\/sup>to the 16th<\/sup> of November, The Girl on The Train<\/em> is stopping at the New Theatre in Cardiff. Under the direction of Anthony Banks, the story has been brought to the stage for the first time.<\/p>\n When Paula Hawkins’ psychological thriller was first published in 2015 it became an overnight sensation, propelling the author into the limelight after selling over twenty million copies. Whilst the film set the tale in New York, the stage adaptation by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel brings it back to the grittiest sides of the UK. Instead of sipping dirty martinis, the protagonist is back to guzzling wine straight from the bottle and vomiting into pizza boxes. Once again, you’re staring out of the moving train window at rows of English terraced Victorian houses and red brick semis rather than the white picket-fenced suburbia of America.<\/p>\n Unlike the deadpan nature of the film, this portrayal brings in a very British sense of humour as the characters laugh in the face of bleakness and absurdity. The lead role of Rachel Watson is performed by Samantha Womack, best known for her time on EastEnders as Ronnie Mitchell. In interviews, Womack confessed that whilst playing Rachel was a hugely satisfying experience, it was also completely exhausting. Whilst giving her the chance to release her inhibitions and appear devoid of all the typical constraints of femininity, the character is pushed to the edge of her humanity. On stage, Womack slurs and stumbles her way through the first half \u00d4\u00c7\u00f4 until she moves towards clarity as she reaches sobriety following the interval. Womack is supported on stage by John Dougall as D.I Gaskill, a brusque detective who happens to be gay, alongside Oliver Farnworth as Scott, Kirsty Oswald as Megan and Adam Jackson Smith as Tom. None of the characters are particularly likeable, as they are all hugely damaged and flawed, aspects that are well represented by the actors in the show.<\/p>\n The set takes you to a multitude of different places, rotating from the despairs of Rachel’s chaotic solitary bedsit to the immaculate backdrop of Tom’s contemporary elaborate marbled kitchen. Composed by James Cotterill, the stage design mirrors the story’s exposition of the darkness lurking behind an image of perfection. At a time when social media portrayals dominate our perceptions of human lives, this tale serves as a reminder of the murkiness that we keep hidden beneath. If you’re tempted by a trip into the depths of addiction, manipulation, murder, and secrets, The Girl on the Train<\/em> is certainly one to watch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Elly Savva \u00d4\u00ff\u00e0\u00d4\u00ff\u00e0\u00d4\u00ff\u00e0\u00d4\u00ff\u00e0 Although following the classic murder mystery story arc, what really entices the audience into this particular […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":563,"featured_media":20150,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[3,50,449,96,3053,1206,19,4895,229],"class_list":["post-20149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-cardiff","tag-culture-2","tag-new-theatre","tag-quench","tag-quench-culture","tag-quench-magazine","tag-review","tag-the-girl-on-the-train","tag-theatre"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n