{"id":233214,"date":"2025-07-02T23:24:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T23:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/233214\/"},"modified":"2025-07-02T23:24:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T23:24:13","slug":"the-girl-on-the-train-review-leeds-grand-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/233214\/","title":{"rendered":"The Girl On The Train \u2013 Review \u2013 Leeds Grand Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

By Steve Crabtree<\/a>, July 2025<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll hold my hands up \u2013 The Girl on the Train isn\u2019t a story I came to see with any prior knowledge. I\u2019ve not read the book, and I\u2019ve never seen the film. And to be honest, psychological thrillers aren\u2019t really my genre of choice either. But when I saw this tour was heading to Leeds, something about it made me want to check it out.<\/p>\n

Why? Maybe I just fancied something a little different\u2026<\/p>\n

At its heart, The Girl on the Train<\/a> is a story of memory, obsession and fractured truth. Rachel, the central figure, is an alcoholic whose life has unravelled \u2013 her job gone, her marriage over, her confidence shattered. Each day she rides the train past the same rows of houses, imagining the lives of the people inside.<\/p>\n

When a woman she\u2019s watched from afar suddenly goes missing, Rachel finds herself pulled into the investigation, unsure of what she remembers and what she might have imagined. With timelines blurring and motives unclear, the story unfolds through a series of tense, tangled exchanges, as Rachel tries to piece together the gaps in her memory \u2013 and confront the reality of what she might have seen.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\u201cTension\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first act dragged its heels a little. Maybe it\u2019s just me \u2013 I\u2019m more drawn to theatre that sets its pace early and keeps things moving. But in this case, the slower opening clearly served a purpose. It allowed space for questions to form, characters to simmer, and tension to quietly build. Ultimately, it paid off.<\/p>\n

By contrast, the second act stepped things up nicely. The storyline found its groove, the dialogue picked up pace, and everything began shifting with greater urgency. The twists and revelations started coming more frequently, and that sense of being pulled along \u2013 unsure of who or what to believe \u2013 started to take hold.<\/p>\n

My wife had already clocked the ending long before I did. But for me, there was a distinct turning point \u2013 a scene that gave just enough away to shift suspicion in a more focused direction. It wasn\u2019t a \u201cgasp out loud\u201d moment \u2013 more a subtle nudge that made me re-evaluate everything I\u2019d seen up to that point. And from there, I was hooked.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\u201cWitty touches\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Laura Whitmore takes on the lead role of Rachel, and it\u2019s a strong performance. There\u2019s a fragility to her at first, but as Rachel gains clarity and strength, Whitmore builds that arc convincingly. She doesn\u2019t overplay the emotional turmoil but lets it creep through scene by scene. She\u2019s steady, and she holds the centre of the play with confidence.<\/p>\n

Phil McEwan was a standout as DI Gaskill. There\u2019s a warmth to his delivery and a natural ease in how he moves through scenes. He had a grounded presence that counterbalanced the chaos, and he managed to bring in moments of humour without ever pulling focus. That lightness was appreciated, too \u2013 subtle and well-placed, but never at the expense of the drama.<\/p>\n

In fact, one of the things I enjoyed most about the production was how it used those quiet, witty touches to punctuate (or pop?) the tension. A few laughs from the audience was welcome. The writing gave just enough breathing space between the heavier beats, and the cast made the most of them. It helped keep the tone balanced and prevented the mood from becoming too heavy or self-serious.<\/p>\n

The whole cast were solid throughout. We had no weak links, no jarring moments. A well-drilled group who kept things tight and focused from start to finish.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\u201cSpeed, rhythm and relentless routine\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Visually, the production does a great job of capturing atmosphere without overstating it. Clever use of lighting and sound effects evokes the motion of the train \u2013 its speed, rhythm and relentless routine \u2013 and helps place Rachel\u2019s disoriented perspective front and centre.<\/p>\n

The lights partnered the set design nicely. Subtle, with transitions seamless, and the layout allowing for quick shifts between homes, trains, and police interviews without breaking the pace.<\/p>\n

And the ending? It landed well. Even if some had worked it out early, the payoff still carried weight. The tension had been built gradually and carefully, and the final act gave it the space it needed to play out without rushing or overdoing it. It was satisfying.<\/p>\n

For a show that\u2019s not in my usual area of interest, The Girl on the Train won me over. Once it found its rhythm, it kept me firmly onboard. If you\u2019re planning to see it too, it\u2019s well worth a night out.<\/p>\n

The Girl On The Train runs at Leeds Grand Theatre<\/a> until Saturday 5th July.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Steve Crabtree( Writer )<\/p>\n

Give Steve music, give him food, give him theatre, tech or travel\u2026 and he\u2019s a happy man. He\u2019s been writing professionally since 2003, turning to journalism in 2017 when it offered him the chance to enjoy a lot of his existing passions, and learn some new ones at the same time. Steve can be found spending many of his summer nights watching bands at The Piece Hall in his hometown of Halifax, or enjoying a bite to eat and a drink with his wife anywhere in Yorkshire at any time of year. Random fact: He does the best impression of Zippy and George from Rainbow that anyone has ever heard.<\/p>\n

You do not have any posts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Steve Crabtree, July 2025 I\u2019ll hold my hands up \u2013 The Girl on the Train isn\u2019t a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8814],"tags":[748,393,4884,1860,56230,91434,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-233214","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leeds","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-leeds","12":"tag-leeds-grand-theatre","13":"tag-steve-crabtree","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114786223365887714","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}