The Ghost Train

Arnold Ridley's The Ghost Train is a comedy thriller set in a remote railway station. A group of stranded passengers is forced to stay overnight and learns of a ghostly legend about a haunted train that brings death to those who see it. As the night progresses, strange occurrences and escalating tension unravel into a mix of spooky and comedic moments. Ultimately, the ghostly events are revealed to be part of a smuggling scheme, bringing the story to a resolution.

 

The staging for The Ghost Train was simple and effective – black clothes were used along with a suspended door, used as an entrance and exist throughout the play, and mocked-up suspended windows.  There was a simple box on the side used as a ticket office, and a rickety desk and a few benches dotted around, to make up the waiting area. An electric bar fire in front of the fireplace was used to simulate the fire.  The lighting was simple but could have had a little more thought put into it, I felt, as it would have been possible to enhance the mood of the waiting room.  Smoke effects were used sparingly a few times, which was effective and appropriate.  Overall, the set looked fine, but I felt just needed a little more “railway waiting room” style furnishings – a sign? Map?  I don’t know exactly what, but it was a little barer than most waiting areas, but it all did the job and certainly didn’t detract from the story.

 

The curtains opened to a very visible set of hands on stage right gesticulating for 10 seconds or so and capturing the audience’s attention, but without any props or movement on the stage to follow.  It caused a few discussions around me from various audience members, so it clearly caused a distraction and wasn’t meant to happen, but after this point, the whole show ran very smoothly, with a very rare prompt and everyone knowing their lines well.

 

Casting of the characters was appropriate, and I felt that they all looked the part for their characters.  I felt some of the characterisation could have been developed a bit more.  Some characters rather had a single reaction – regardless of whether it was anger, surprise, indignation etc – it didn’t really have any development or change from when the character arrived to when they left.  So, scenes which clearly should have been more franticly comedic didn’t really stand out as such, because the previous scenes had been just as frenetic. I think this is something that the cast could all work on.  Some members have a better handle of it than others, but it’s a group / teamwork thing really – getting the energy level right for each scene helps the audience understand the story and feel an unconscious increasing tension as the tale unfolds.  Perhaps think about the level of emotion each character should feel at the entrance of each scene compared to the exit – there should be a difference (and a reason) in most cases, and for some characters I didn’t really feel that.  I won’t pick on any individuals because I thought everyone clearly worked very hard on this show and you could see the effort that had been put in, but I honestly feel this is a focus area which could help the group develop.  I did especially enjoy Matthew Ashton’s portrayal of “Teddy Deakin” – this was a stand out character for me – well done, Matthew.

 

I will say that I enjoyed the show – the story was enjoyable, and I did really want to know what was going to happen next while waiting during the interval. 

 

For Georgia Cassarino on her directing debut, she should be rightly proud.  The story was well told and the staging well executed, and she also stepped in to the part of Saul Hodgkin very well, in what I understand was very short notice.

 

I thought the effects worked very well – the train effect was super – very clear what was going on.  Good sound for the most part – rain occasionally too subtle to quite hear.  Good use of microphones, with the levels sounding great. Very crisp and clear and good diction.  Also, a good use of props, and nice choices around costume – not so sure of the newlyweds costume choices, but it was fine and fitted the setting.

 

Well done Ulverston Outsiders and thank you for the invite.

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