The Ghost Train

The Ghost Train was written by Arnold Ridley in 1923 and is a timeless mystery thriller, although by today’s standards it would hardly be described as a ‘thriller’ but nevertheless there were some credible eerie moments.

As one expects from The Lytton Players, the set was good - and certainly depicted a bleak and cold railway station waiting room on a stormy night in the 1920s.

Barry Woolhead  (Station Master) was totally convincing. He had such a natural stage presence and he told the ‘story’ brilliantly with a convincing Cornish accent.

There were two couples in the group, one on the verge of separating (Richard and Elsie Winthrop) whilst the other was newlyweds (Charles and Peggy Murdoch). David Woolley gave a convincing performance as Richard coping admirably with the domineering and softer sides of the character and Jaysica Marvell impressed as his wife.

Tom Beirn and Alice Smithson were totally believable as the newlyweds and Sheila Soothill was splendid as Miss Bourne, how she managed to stay still lying on a hard bench for so long was nothing short of amazing.

An outstanding performance came from Sophie Ashby as the disturbed, ghost obsessed local who turned out to be one of the villains and also Peter Kirkby, as the undercover detective Teddie Deakin, who managed superbly to infuriate everyone, appearing not to take anything seriously with his smooth, camp portrayal. Always in control but never the less fearlessly close to the edge! A master-class in comic stagecraft. Well done.

The main characters were ably supported by Aaron Govey as Herbert Price, Andreas Georgiou as Dr. Stirling and Chloe Oliver as Jackson.

Costumes were a little modern for my taste and the ladies hairstyles’ were not of the period.

The sound and lighting effects were excellent and all added to enrich and encapsulate the atmospherics necessary to make this a most entertaining evening.

Thank you for looking after me so well.

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