by Dan Mayer
Author Paula Hawkins’ novel The Girl on the Train became an international best-seller, as well as a 2016
film starring Emily Blunt, before being adapted for the stage. Schenectady Civic Players‘ production takes off like a speeding locomotive, but audiences may be in for a bumpy ride.
The whole stage has a fairly unique look. There are a series of tall facades that loom over the actors,
rotating to show different pieces of the backdrop for each scene. In the center at the back of the stage is a kind of narrow balcony where various glimpses of fractured memories play out. The ever-present train
seats to the side of the stage provide a nice kind of framing device between scenes as we follow Rachel
(Jennifer Schnurr) to each location.
The cast are excellent, bringing a lot of intensity and emotion while having to maintain English accents.
The scenes with Rachel and Tom (Tom Templeton) in particular were the most gripping. Schnurr’s tone
and physical mannerisms superbly portray a woman whose life is falling apart, and it’s easy to get
invested in her meandering journey.
Rachel can be a frustrating protagonist to follow at times. So much of the mystery hinges on a few hours
one night when she was blackout drunk. Memory loss is such a tired storytelling device for mystery
thrillers at this point, it feels like cheating the audience out of an actual mystery. She’s also a deeply
flawed character by design, which can be compelling to watch, but her lies and faulty memories mislead
at every turn, making figuring out what happened virtually impossible before the end. Even so, her
struggles with addiction, obsession, and abuse are bound to resonate strongly with a lot of people, and
they make her eventual successes more gratifying.
The show suffers a bit from a lack of consistent tone. A dark crime thriller can certainly benefit from some dry humor, but when intense emotional drama is followed shortly by awkward relationship humor, the effect can be quite jarring. The audience opening night seemed on-board with the slightly uncomfortable laughs, but your mileage may vary.
Most of the action is effective and well-choreographed, but the climax was a little muddled, which was
disappointing given how crucial of a moment it is. Without getting into specifics, the fates of those
involved became clear in the following scene, but it was difficult to follow exactly what had happened at
the time.
The Girl on the Train isn’t bad by any means, but it feels difficult to recommend. Elements of the plot that
bothered me may not bother everyone, and the way the darker themes of grief and abuse are explored may be upsetting for some but cathartic for others. In any case, it’s a quality production with a cast and crew worth seeing in action, and fans of the psychological thriller genre will likely want to take this train for a ride.
Schenectady Civic Players present The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, adapted by Rachel Wagstaff
and Duncan Abel, directed by Jennifer Van Iderstyne, runs from Oct 17-26, at Schenectady Civic
Playhouse, 12 South Church Street in Schenectady, NY. CAST: Jennifer Schnurr as Rachel Watson,
Matthew Moross as D. I. Gaskill, Laura Darling as Anna Watson, Tom Templeton as Tom Watson,
Siobhan Shea as Megan Hipwell, Isaac Scranton as Scott Hipwell, Alex Yun as Kamal Abdic, and David
Quinones as Understudy. CREATIVE TEAM: Director / Sound Design: Jennifer Van Iderstyne. Assistant Director: Jean T. Carney. Stage Manager: Beth Swallow. Assistant Stage Manager: Michael Schaefer. Producer: Kathy Frisic. Set & Lighting Design: David Zwierankin. Board Operator: Elise Charlebois. Fight Choreographer: Ellen Cribbs. Intimacy Coordinator: Christopher Buettner. Dialect Coach: Laura Graver. Prop Master / Stage Crew: Jason LaSusa. Props Fabricator: Joel Katz. Set Building Assist: Adam Coons, Laura Darling. Stage Crew: Michael Schaefer, Jennifer Madison. Dramaturgy: Kathryn Fore. Costumes: Beth Ruman. Technical Sound Engineer: Barry Streifert. Custom Artwork: Rebecca D’Amour. Cast Dinner: Christine Loffredo, Amy Krawiecki. Marketing & Media: Meghan Watson. Prompter: Hollie Miller.
Performance dates are Wednesday – Sunday, Oct 17 – 26. Wednesday and Thursday curtains are at
7:30pm, Friday and Saturday curtains are at 8:00 pm, and Sundays are matinees only at 2:30 pm. Tickets
are $25. Runs approximately 2 hours 30 minutes with a 15-minute intermission. This production contains
themes of a sensitive nature, including alcoholism, grief, and abuse. Tickets are available online. Visit
https://www.civicplayers.org/ for more information.