Ryan Didato, Gaby Tortoledo and Allie Beltran in The Girl On The Train at Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre. (Photos by Alberto Romeu)
By Oline H. Cogdill
Actors’ Playhouse’s thrilling theater version of The Girl on the Train has a history.
When Paula Hawkins’ novel The Girl on the Train was released in 2015, it became one of those rarified phenomenal best sellers, landing on myriad lists. Readers in many countries were lured to this story about a woman who obsessively rode a train, drinking herself numb with canned gin and tonics.
The Girl on the Train latched onto that trend of the unreliable narrator that had resurged with Gillian Flynn’s 2012 Gone Girl, and is still a device used in thrillers.
At the heart of the story was The Girl—Rachel Watson, hardly a girl at 33 years old. A complicated character, Rachel was both appealing and repulsive; sympathetic and pitiful. We may want to join her for a drink, but take away all her liquor; give her a hug and get her into therapy. You want to comfort her but also never see her again. You don’t believe a word she says, and yet you want to.
In one of those rare movie moments, the film rights were acquired before The Girl on the Train was published. The movie starring Emily Blunt and directed by Tate Taylor, was released in London in September 2016 and the following month in the U.S.
The success of the novel and the movie no doubt lead Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel to turn the thriller into a stage play that had respectful runs in England, New Zealand and Canada
And now at Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables, where The Girl on the Train makes its Florida premiere.
It isn’t necessary to have read the novel to enjoy the play or understand this thriller’s plot, though the drama may inspire you to head to the bookstore or library. (And I always advocate for always reading the book.) Overall, the play keeps the spirit of the novel, paring down the sequence of events and at least one character to make it more theatrical.
Under the smooth direction of Actors’ Playhouse Artistic Director David Arisco, this The Girl on the Train is a sleek, slick production that never stalls during just over two hours. While a five- or 10-minute trim would have been a bonus, that is the fault of the script, not this production. Arisco mines all the tension, ambiguous action and character development. OK, let’s just get this out of the way, Arisco makes this train run on time; he keeps this train on track (and kudos to scenic designer Brandon Newton for those innovative tracks.)
Arisco has assembled a first-rate cast that mines the intense psychological underpinnings that move the plot.
Gaby Tortoledo delves deep to portray Rachel Watson, whose life is a shambles. She’s lost her job, friends, and is about to lose her apartment—all of which she blames because she’s lost her husband, Tom.
Rachel has not handled the divorce well. Instead, she has crawled into a bottle, anesthetizing herself with endless alcohol. (Instead of those canned gin and tonics in the novel, she pours her alcohol into an opaque water bottle, easier to carry with her everywhere.) Daily, Rachel is on a train to London, a route that takes her past her old house where Tom (Iain Batchelor) lives with his now wife Anna (Krystal Millie Valdes) and their infant daughter Evie.
The trip lets Rachel clandestinely spy on her former husband, though sometimes she has gotten off that train and intruded into their home, threatening Anna.
Rachel also has become fascinated by the couple who live two doors down, whom she has nicknamed Jason and Jess. She’s infatuated with their supposedly perfect life, the life she would have had if she was still married to Tom. She’s always seeing Megan Hipwell (Allie Beltran) and Scott Hipwell (Ryan Didato) embracing, so in love it makes her jealous, and sad because she no longer has love.
Then one day she sees Megan kissing Kamal Abdic (Nate Promkul), who also is her therapist. Two days later, Megan is missing and Rachel has woken up bloody and disoriented on the ground of the train’s overpass.
This brings in D.I. Gaskill (Gregg Weiner) to investigate whether Rachel in a drunken, jealous rage attacked Megan or if Rachel was attacked by whomever harmed Megan, or maybe Megan fled her marriage.
Each of the characters is, in their own way, an unreliable narrator, hiding secrets even from themselves. Those secrets seep throughout the play as no one is whom they seem to be.
Tortoledo superbly carries the show, eliciting our sympathy and our disgust. Her frequent “black holes in memory,” brought on by her drinking put in doubt everything she witnesses or thinks she does. Tortoledo realistically portrays a functioning drunk who is never without her alcohol, yet avoiding any cliches. She doesn’t slur her words or stumble. Instead, she tries to balance herself when she walks as if trying to find balance in her life. The audience so wants her to get off that train, which means she would get off the alcohol. But this seems doubtful.
Each of the actors bring many layers to their roles. Batchelor appears to be a compassionate ex-husband, worried about Rachel but who could no longer stand her endless drinking or the violence this sometimes unleased in her. Valdes’ exasperation is palpable at Rachel’s frequent intrusions and fear of what she might do to her or Evie. Valdes’ Anna only wants a quiet life and worries that may never happen. Promkul illustrates a caring therapist anyone would feel comfortable going to. As the Hipwells, Beltran and Didato are the epitome of no one knows what goes on behind closed doors. Weiner elevates every role he is in as he does with Gaskill who mainly is a device to get the investigation moving.
Each of these actors have been in numerous South Florida productions and seeing them on one stage is a treat for the audience.
The Girl on the Train’s minimalist setting focuses on the psychology of the characters. A backdrop of a mosaic of various shapes illustrates the characters’ jumbled minds.
A pallet on the floor, surrounded by liquor bottles, dirty plates and other domestic debris, creates Rachel’s bedroom; a desk is the detective’s work space; two chairs serves as the therapist’s office. The Hipwells; home is depicted with a moveable cart for drinks and a painting on an easel to illustrate Megan’s work as a gallery owner.
Scenic designer Newton has “painted” train tracks across the stage that Rachel walks, effectively giving the allusion of the train. Sound designer Reidar Sorensen has the train’s whistle constant, sometimes loud, sometimes quietly in the background but showing that train doesn’t go away, with Eric Nelson’s lighting adding to this effect. Ellis Tillman’s costumes reflect each characters’ personality, especially Rachel’s dowdy outfit, showing she has given up on life and joy.
Actors Playhouse’s The Girl on the Train brings voyeurism to a new level.
Oline H. Cogdill reviews mystery fiction for the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale/Tribune Publishing Wire, Publishers Weekly, and Shelf Awareness. She has been honored with the Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Oline continues to be a judge for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the mystery/thriller category. Oline also has an essay on reviewing in the Anthony, Agatha and Barry Award-winning book “How To Write a Mystery” co-edited by Lee Child and Laurie R. King.
The Girl on the Train runs through June 8 at Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre, 280 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables. Ticket prices are from $40-$80 (10 percent discount for seniors on weekdays and $15 student rush tickets available 15 minutes prior to curtain). Performances are Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. A special weekday matinee will take place on Wednesday, May 21, at 2 p.m. A pre-show Happy Hour every Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. For more information, call 305-444-9293 or visit www.ActorsPlayhouse.org or Actors’ Playhouse Box Office.
Gaby Tortoledo and Nate Promkul
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