Theatre reviews: The Girl on the Train | Moments

Moments, The Studio, Edinburgh ★★★★

Stage thrillers come and go faster than trains on a busy London commuter line; but all the same, there’s something peculiarly haunting and memorable about this stylish stage adaptation of Paula Hawkins’ hit 2015 novel The Girl On the Train, now in Glasgow as part of a UK tour.

Hawkins’ central character, after all, is hardly a typical whodunnit hero. Rachel Watson - played here with terrific intensity by actress, novelist and podcaster Giovanna Fletcher - is an unemployed and recently divorced alcoholic who takes the train into central London every day although she lost her job months ago, simply for something to do.

Rachel has developed an obsession with a couple she glimpses when the train stops near her old home, now occupied by her ex-husband and his new wife and baby. She sees this unknown couple apparently living the happy life she las lost; so when the woman, Megan, disappears, Rachel throws herself into the investigation with a frenzied energy that is welcomed by no-one - not her ex, not Megan’s partner Scott, and certainly not the kindly but exasperated police inspector in charge of the case.

This story, in other words, speaks to some of the most pervasive unspoken causes of heartbreak in our society, from the sheer, isolating anonymity of modern city life, through our huge vulnerability to various forms of addiction, to the breakdown of marriage as a reliable source of love and security, and the bleak, unwilling childlessness of both Rachel and Megan.

In Loveday Ingram’s production, the story is staged with very few props, on a set by Adam Wiltshire that looks like a 21st century light installation, with lighting by Jack Knowles, video imagery by Dan Light, and powerful sound by Elizabeth Purnell; the effect is elegant, disturbing, frightening and poignant by turns.

And if, in the end, Rachel finds common ground with both Megan and her husband’s new wife Anna, and begins to save her own life as well as protecting others, it’s not only because the adult woman on the train has finally taken over from the girl; but because she has realised that in the urban jungle of 21st century relationships, women really do have to do it for themselves.

One of the striking things about Rachel’s story is how she vividly interprets and misinterprets the tiny moments of Megan’s life that she glimpses in passing; and Theatre:Re’s touring show Moments, briefly at The Studio in Edinburgh this week, offers a fascinating insight into how one of the UK’s most admired physical theatre companies goes about transforming tiny, striking observed moments of human movement into a fully-fledged show or theatre sequence.

Described as “part TED talk, part theatrical performance”, Moments begins more like a meditation for discussion with fellow artists than a public-facing show. Theatre:Re’s creative team of four - led by creator-director and lead performer Guillaume Pige - reflect on their 13 years together as theatremakers, wonder why they are still doing this work as they face the challenges of parenthood and mid-life, and show the stops and starts that arise, as Guillaume tries to work out a movement sequence with a small classroom chair, also inspired by the watch he wears on his wrist.

What emerges, however, in the show’s second half, is a strikingly poignant and beautiful movement piece about the key midlife experience of losing a father, while also becoming and being a father to the next generation. The question of whether groups like Theatre:Re will ever be resourced in ways that make it easy to continue their creative lives through a whole career is not one this show can answer; but it does at least respond, richly, fully and positively, to the question of whether their work is worth doing, for those of us lucky enough to experience it.

The Girl On the Train is at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow, until 1 February, and His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen, from 24-28 June; Moments, run ended.