The Boy on the Train – Long Read

I was in a show last week. I didn’t advertise it because I didn’t really know how to talk about it until it was done and the tickets sold so quickly and completely, I didn’t feel the need to. Also I’m conscious that I wang on about acting and theatre a little too much and thought some respite for you, the reader, might be nice. It was The Girl on the Train at Market Harborough Theatre. We put on an extra night because demand for tickets was so high and we sold over 900 of them which was a little boost for the ego.

We auditioned and received scripts early so that we could learn our lines before rehearsals started. This is slightly unusual in amateur theatre but I liked it as I felt one hurdle had already been hurdled before we started. I got an immediate sense that this play would stretch me a lot. And with the help of Director, Paul Barrass, I hope I was able to get out of my comfort zone and do justice to the character of Scott who was difficult to understand at times. His emotional state during the play was haphazard to say the least as well as (SPOILERS!) having to be a red herring for the real villain. Hopefully I pulled him off. (Whisper it… that’s what she said.)

Claire Bower playing Rachel – asleep on the job again. Photo taken by Andrew Wallace for MHDS.

I want to talk about Claire. I knew Claire a little before we started rehearsing as I met her a couple of times, but now having finished the show I am happy that I can add another person to my theatre family. I spent all of my time on stage with Claire, going back and forth, shouting at each other, getting a little fruity in one particular moment and I had to ‘strangle’ her on stage. This was the most worrying thing for me to do, because I’m not a big guy but I know that I can hurt someone if I’m not completely concentrating on what I’m doing. Claire had the mammoth task of always being on stage and I felt like every other actor were batteries to keep Claire topped up with energy. If we were not putting our all into our parts, then she had nothing to bounce off of and keep going.

She was simply a joy to act with. I could not have asked for a better lead actor who threw themselves at their role and set an example for everyone else. She was prepared, got stuck in and pushed herself and she set the lead for the rest of the cast to follow. I treasured our last scene together which was the last scene of the play. I got to watch her deliver her last monologue from up close and the sense of relief and happiness washed off her in waves. We hugged as part of scene, and we always had a celebratory hug after the scene as well. She is a legend and you won’t see me write that often.

The cast of The Girl on the Train. Taken by Tony Ruscoe who played Tom.

I also want to talk about Ben Brooks. Ben epitomises the camaraderie and work ethic that I witness from everyone involved in an MHDS show. I’ve written before about the army of volunteers that help create a show at the theatre. For example, one of the ladies who helped us with costumes was on hand every night a show was on to assist us if we had any issues. Back to Ben. I met Ben when we played journalists together in A Bunch of Amateurs. I can safely say that he was a lot more professional than me in that show. He’s a quiet lad, but he gets on with it, which is key. He assisted the stage manager with tasks as well as acting in Amateurs and he did the same in The Girl on the Train. He’s also part of the set building team. He gives his time and effort to help keep everything going whilst buffoons like me are showing off on stage. He’s the glue. Ben is a legend.

When a show ends, sometimes an actor will get the post show blues. I didn’t with this one. I was overjoyed to be part of the show and also ecstatic that we’d completed it so successfully because of the tremendous feedback we received. I don’t think I could have sustained the effort to keep going. My character took it out of me, but that sense of pushing myself will stay with me.