Theatrical wizardry meets slapstick humour when Arnold Ridley’s 1923 comedy thriller receives the Told by an Idiot treatment.
Told by an Idiot have chosen to celebrate their 25th anniversary
with what must be the best known of Arnold Ridley’s substantial output for the
stage. Ridley himself is best remembered for his role of Godfrey in TV’s Dad’s
Army, and many devotees of the series might be surprised to find he was also an
accomplished and popular playwright.
Since first appearing in 1923, The Ghost Train has been
played for melodrama and it’s been played for laughs (notably in Walter Forde’s
1941 film, which was a vehicle for Arthur Askey and “Stinker” Murdoch) but Paul
Hunter’s new staging for the Royal Exchange treads a line between, with laughs
and surprises and even a witty nod, early in the first act, to its adaptations
for Radio.
Playing the piece in the round in this very exposed and
intimate performance space is a bold move that suits Told by an Idiot’s off the
wall style perfectly, and affords boundless opportunities for tremendously
theatrical moments, near slapstick scenes and witty asides to the audience.
The ensemble cast, some of whom are doubling roles, work
with impeccable timing and, while all are excellent, there are some
conspicuously memorable individual performances. Javier Marzan brings his
inimitable physical style to the gloriously dotty Miss Bourne, the clown in him
coming out in particular after she downs a bottle of brandy. Calum Finlay is
the annoying but lovable Teddie, whose hat gets the party of travellers marooned
at the ghostly station. Exchange audiences may remember him from Too Clever by
Half, and here he’s a perfect fit in the plus-fours and flat cap. Marzan is not
the only role reversal, with Amanda Hadingue donning a Captain Birdseye beard
as the mysterious stationmaster Saul Hodgkin, while Joanna Holden takes a crowd-pleasing
flight of fancy in one of her doubling roles.
The ingenuity with which trains come and go at the beginning
and end are genuine theatrical magic, matched by some brilliant set pieces. The
telling of the ghostly tale of the train crash is enacted with a madcap mixture
of dramatic staging and humour, and the passing through of the eponymous
apparition is brilliantly done.
The ghost train will make you laugh out loud and hold you on
the edge of your seats, waiting not just for the inevitable twist in the tale
but also to see what parlour trick they’ll pull out of their hats next.
The Ghost Train plays at Manchester’s Royal Exchange until 20th June
2015. Follow this link for details and tickets:
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| The Ghost Train - photo (c) Jonathan Keenan |
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