The Ghost Train

Reviews

My companion for this evening is a fan of the original film and she was tantalisingly vague about the content. Written by Arnold Ridley, of Dads Army fame, the play is quite well known so I am not sure how I have not seen if over the years. I was, however, looking forward to it.

Blackmore Players, under the direction of Dave Cook, produced a nicely balanced story and all the characters were well played. I noted, in the programme, that one of the main characters, normally a woman, was being played by a man. My companion was a bit unsure but, as she knew the story, that is understandable. This was the second performance and there was some hesitancy in the actors and the need for a few prompts at the beginning of the piece. Once the cast had settled in, it went smoothly.

The play started well, and each character was introduced to us. There were two couples, Richard and Elsie Winthrop (played by Andrew Raymond and Hilary Martin) and Charles and Peggy Murdock (played by Matthew Pearson and Rebecca Smith). All four actors had well defined characters and we quickly understood their relationships and nuances. The Station Master, who is quite central to the play, was well played by Alf Curry, he had a couple of very long speeches which he delivered, perfectly, in a delightful Cornish accent. Then there was Miss Bourne (played by Linda Raymond) a lovely portrayal of a slightly batty spinster.

We met Teddie Deakin, played by Connor Gardner. His character appeared to be that of a rather stupid and silly individual but, later in the play, we found out that he was no such thing! Steve Drinkall played Herbert Price, a local landowner with his solicitor John Sterling, (played by Keith Goody). They were acting as guardians to Julian Price (Julie in the original script). Played by Ian Russell, he seemed to be delusional and scared. To be honest, this was the one character that didn't really 'gell' for me. I could imagine the part, played by a female, as hysterical. That doesn't quite work for a male performer, so the overall impression was rather manic and uncontrolled. The cast was completed with a short appearance of Rhys Burrell as the policeman.

There were plenty of comedic moments which kept the play moving along at a pace and, when we found out the sting in the tail, it was completely unexpected to me! There were some adjustments during the denouement, because the change in character for Julian and I thought that his character, at the end, was rather out of kilter with the rest of the story. This was supported by some comments from people sitting around me in the audience, who seemed to find that part of the characterisation not very believable.

The standing set was well built and substantial, it was, however a pity that the actors, supposedly coming in from a rainy night were not wet! The lighting and sound effects were very well done and beautifully timed. It was a shame that the door was left open at one point and the lighting effect of the passing train did not quite work. However, these are picky points and may well have been rectified in subsequent performances.

I enjoyed the production and the company should be pleased with their performances.

Tessa Davies, NODA

I have seen several productions at Blackmore and I always look forward to seeing what they do next. On arrival, we were greeted well and entering the hall once again the set was great - understated and very reminiscent of a village waiting room with great attention to detail. Huge congratulations to the set construction team.

I had not seen this play before although strangely enough I knew the storyline. Set in the 1920's it offers lots of possibilities for a cast.

We first met Andrew Raymond as Richard Winthrop and Hilary Martin as Elsie Winthrop the arguing couple looking to split up. Not knowing the play, I wasn't sure if Richard is from a well-to-do-family or has married into money - from Andrew's performance I felt it was the latter, but I may be mistaken. Both he and Hilary were well cast and gave us some solid performances.

Next, we met Charles Murdock played by Matthew Pearson and his new wife Peggy played by Rebecca Smith. I really like this pairing and felt they were very believable and for me, Matthew was one of the strongest and most consistent performers on the stage.

Linda Raymond as Miss Bourne was scatty, eccentric and highly amusing as the spinster with parrot in tow! Connor Gardner played Teddy Deakin the 'Bertie Wooster' type character with who portrayed a typical cad of the era and then gave us his hidden side in Act 3. I felt he could be a little more Bertie and on occasion, his diction was not as clear as I would have liked. However, he delivered a good performance which he should be proud of.

Alf Curry as Saul Hodkin had a great accent and looked calm and comfortable on stage. I really enjoyed his portrayal and found it very convincing. Ian Russell as Julian (which I understand was originally Julia!) played the troubled individual who had 'allegedly' seen the train in the past and it had a traumatic effect on him. I am not sure whether his portrayal was supposed to be so physical or whether this was the Director's vision, but I found the use of a hand move on every word unnecessary and it became a little irritating. I really felt it distracted from his overall performance as he had great facial expressions and this for me would have been enough to convey the character.

Steve Drinkall as Herbert Price and Keith Goody as John Sterling both looked great in their characters. In fact, I thought this was probably the best thing I have seen Keith do, as he was calm and controlled but had an underlying menace about him. I hope to see him do more like this in the future.

Overall, I felt this production was a little under rehearsed and on several occasions the cast looked unsure or confused, this was highlighted by the fact that the prompt was very busy tonight.

However, while this may sound like a harsh critique, I actually really enjoyed the performance this evening and thought there were some superb moments from all the cast members. Just remember that dThis is a great play and had some real thriller moments. All the cast were well suited to their roles and with a little more time and I felt this would have delivered on every level.

I really look forward to their next production the Pantomime - Dick Whittington.

Nikki Mundell-Poole, https://theatrelife.org