REVIEW – STRANGERS ON A TRAIN
By Craig Warner, from the novel by PATRICIA HIGHSMITH
Presented by Lancaster Footlights

The Grand Theatre, St Leonardgate, Lancaster
Tuesday 14 to Saturday 18 February 2006

An intense and thrilling triumph

Patricia Highsmith’s first major novel, Strangers on a Train, was first published in 1950 and was an immediate success.  So much so that no less a figure than Alfred Hitchcock approached the twenty nine year old writer with a view to making a film based on the novel.  The rest is history:  the film, released the following year, was also a success, and secured Highsmith’s reputation as a serious and talented writer.

So there’s the original novel, a 1950s film and now this 1996 stage adaptation by Craig Warner.  Which comes out best of the three is a matter of personal taste, and this is not the time or place to discuss the potential and pitfalls of adaptations.  Suffice it to say that this stage version encapsulates Highsmith’s taut, evocative writing admirably, and perfectly recreates the suspense and dark, guilt-ridden brooding of the original.

Just as this adaptation succeeds, so too did the masterly production by Footlights.  Warner’s well-crafted text was elaborately and ingeniously staged, the cast making good use of the complex settings.  Costumes were splendidly post-Deco 1950s America, and the accents very largely matched.  Lighting, too, was well matched to the staging; they have not only some very versatile equipment at the Grand, but also some well skilled lighting operators.

The cast of seven carried off their parts with great conviction and integrity.  Diction was exemplary and there was strong evidence of committed teamwork and ensemble playing.  With Highsmith’s usual homoerotic overtones, Strangers on a Train is really a piece about the two men protagonists, and Steve Ashton as the dipsomania and emotionally flawed Charles Bruno, and Kyle Oram as the Hamlet-esque Guy Haines delivered strong and totally convincing performances. 

Terry Doyle as the private sleuth Arthur Gerard also turned in a strong portrayal of a character we don’t fully understand, or like, but have a grudging respect for.  The women in the play, as so often in Highsmith’s work, are somewhat secondary to the story, but all these roles were played with finely-balanced integrity. 

The main point of Strangers on a Train is the sinister, palpable and unremitting suspense.  This was in evidence throughout the show without a single let-up.  The white-knuckled audience last Saturday ooh-ed and aah-ed at every twist and turn of the plot.  With a strong cast, imaginative staging, fine lighting and great costumes, this production, creatively and intelligently directed by Alan Matthews, was a powerful, menacing and memorable triumph.

Copyright © 20 February 2006 Michael Nunn