THEATRE ROYAL, GLASGOW
STRANGERS ON A TRAIN
THIS had as much tension as a perished elastic band. Patricia Highsmith’s taut psychological drama just did not transfer on to the stage in this production.
There have been many adaptations of her work, including Alfred Hitchcock’s silver screen, and all managed to create a feeling of anxiety. This had far too light a touch.
Two strangers meet on a train and chat about how to commit two perfect murders.
One of the men Charles Bruno, played by ex-Corrie star Christopher Harper, takes it seriously.
He tracks down the other man – Guy Haines, played by Call The Midwife’s Jack Ashton – to tell him he has killed off his cheating wife and wants the favour returned.
Bruno wants Haines to bump off his father. His manipulation of the troubled young man should create a level of menace. But it doesn’t.
Harper plays Bruno as a merry psychopath but it lacks the malevolence to make it work.
After a somewhat tedious first act in which there are two murders the audience never sees, former Emmerdale star John Middleton arrives to solve the crimes. He plays private detective Arthur Gerard who manages to put all the pieces together but, incredibly, decides to do nothing about them. A neat twist or a spectacular death in the final scene may have saved the show but it was just as weak as the rest of the play. ●Theatre Royal run ends tomorrow. VIVIENNE AITKEN