THEATRE Thrilling train journey F

ORMER Emmerdale star John Middleton and Coronation Street badboy Christopher Harper will be coming to the New Thetare next year in a major new production of Strangers on a Train.

The masterful and gripping thriller is based on the taught psychological drama by the celebrated writer Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr Ripley, Carol), immortalised by Hitchcock’s Academy Award-winning film.

Strangers on a Train is presented by Ambassador Theatre Group and Smith and Brant Theatricals, and directed by Anthony Banks – the team behind the critically acclaimed and phenomenally successful tour of Patrick Hamilton’s Gaslight.

Casting is led by John Middleton (Detective Arthur Gerard) who left Emmerdale earlier this year in a deeply moving storyline, having played the village’s beloved Vicar Ashley Thomas for more than 20 years.

Christopher Harper – currently appearing on the nation’s screens as Coronation Street’s Nathan Curtis in the show’s explosive grooming storyline – plays the charismatic and manipulative Charles Bruno, a psychopathic playboy who has a chance encounter with a troubled stranger, Guy Haines (played by Jack Ashton, Call The Midwife’s vicar Tom Hereward).

They are joined by Hannah Tointon, starring as Guy’s fiancé, Anne Faulkner, who is famed for her roles in Mr Selfridge (alongside her sister, Kara), The Inbetweeners and Hollyoaks.

The play is about a fateful encounter which takes place between two men in the dining carriage of a train crossing America. Guy Haines is the successful businessman with a nagging doubt about the fidelity of his wife.

Charles Bruno is a cold, calculating chancer with a dark secret. A daring and dangerous plan develops from this casual conversation, setting in motion a chain of events that will change the two men’s lives forever.

Strangers On A Train was written by Craig Warner and based on the world renowned 1950 novel by

Patricia Highsmith, latterly made universally famous by the classic Alfred Hitchcock film.

In the great tradition of Hitchcock, this spine-chilling tale is likely to delight audiences with its marriage of dark wit and edge-of-the- seat tension. Director Anthony Banks’ credits include this year’s hugely successful production of Gaslight starring Kara Tointon and Keith Allen.

Strangers on a Train will be at New Theatre, Cardiff from Tuesday 27 – Saturday March 31 next year. Call the box office on 029 2087 8889 for tickets.