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Review of Girl on the Train at Nottingham Theatre Royal




A fascinating yet hair-raising thriller has brought a book and a film onto the stage and delivered one of the best stage productions I have ever seen.

Based on Paula Hawkins’ best-selling novel, the latest tour of the gripping thriller The Girl on the Train is at Theatre Royal, Nottingham until Saturday (January 25).

As someone who wasn’t fully aware of the story, I went to the theatre with the expectation of intensity and seeing a girl on the train, however, I saw, heard, and went away definitely feeling more than that.

The Girl on the Train in Nottingham.
The Girl on the Train in Nottingham.

From the insanely good visual effects to the sound that managed to capture my attention with every minor detail to the admirable acting, the play got me hooked from the start until the very last moment.

It follows the story of Rachel Watson (Giovanna Fletcher), an alcoholic who lost her job and her husband Tom (Jason Merrells) and sees no hope in life besides stalking her ex’s new family and partying until she starts watching the perfect couple through the train window every day.

The way that the train scenes were created made it all so real, the sounds, the rushing hour, the packed trains at peak times, and the need to be in an individual bubble without care for others, it was impressive.

Once Rachel finds out that the woman (Natalie Dunne) she’s been secretly watching has disappeared, she begins a quest to find out more about it, to the point of it becoming obsessive.

She infiltrated herself into the missing woman’s life, with a constant reminder of the misery she created to her own.

The actors were able to perfectly represent the fear, arguments, mental debates, and every feeling in such a deep way that it not only reached the audience, but was as if you were experiencing the story.

From being obsessed with her husband to being obsessed with the missing woman, the production revolves around obsession — for love, for alcohol, for trauma and for answers.

Every single character in the story plays a vital role and every one of them has something to say that will make you doubt and blame one another.

Girl on the Train is one of the easiest plays to watch as it is so captivating and despite the dark and traumatic atmosphere, it awakes you.

I must give a special mention to the visual and sound effects as such an intense play wouldn’t have been so successful and heartfelt without the team behind it, which made a whole difference.

At the end of the play you realise, it wasn’t all about the girl on the train, but the men on the train, the women on the train, the children on the train. It’s all about the train.

I left the theatre and was talking about the performance, I got home and was still talking and thinking about it, and that is when you know something wasn’t only good, but brilliant because it got you feeling and living it. — MT.



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