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| Cast | |
| Saul Hodgkin | David Hampton |
| Richard Winthrop | Chris Manning-Perry |
| Elsie Winthrop | Christine McKeon |
| Charles Murdock | Alex Board |
| Peggy Murdock | Helen Bezer |
| Miss Bourne | Eleanor McEnery |
| Teddie Deakin | Peter Gray |
| Julia Price | Gaynor Fisher |
| Herbert Price | Michael Martin |
| John Sterling | John Buckle |
| Jackson | Matthew Arnold |
| Crew | |
| Stage Manager | Colin Rayment |
| Assistant Stage Manager | Roz Betts |
| Set Designer | Bernard Tilley |
| Set Construction | Bernard Tilley, Paul Lay, Amanda Whittle, Mick Wright, Steve Grubb |
| Lighting Design | Bernard Tilley |
| Lighting Operation | Jerry McKeon |
| Sound | Bernard Tilley |
| Backstage | Peter Griffin |
With thanks to Alex Cooper for technical assistance and lighting hire. Special thanks to Roz Betts for the music.
Review
Director hits right balance
The horrors of rail travel in modern Britain are all too familiar, but none of us should have to experience the extraordinary circumstances the characters find themselves in in Arnold Ridley's vintage comedy thriller The Ghost Train. Here a group of weary travellers find themselves stranded at a remote Cornish halt one stormy night with no hope of a train until the next morning. A crusty old railway porter provides scant comfort, his tales of a tragic rail crash and the subsequent deadly haunting of the platforms only serving to heighten the tension.
Last week the Edward Alderton Theatre took up the challenge of this creaky old play and came up with a wonderfully entertaining production. First-time director Jenny Devonshire struck just the right balance: there were enough laughs and outrageous character work to remind us that really this play is just a bit of a giggle, but at the same time the tension was cranked up with the help of first class lighting, sound and special effects (by Bernard Tilley) to pull off a sequence of dramatic climaxes with tingling success.
It was a worthy production to mark the Bexleyheath theatre's 30th anniversary, demonstrating the level of acting and technical talent established there. The set was a realistic recreation of a cheerless and grimy gaslit waiting room, through whose double doors enter a string of stock characters. These include Chris Manning-Perry and Christine McKeon as a businessman and his estranged wife; Alex Board and Helen Bezer as a contrasting couple of cooing newlyweds; and Eleanor McEnery, timing every line to perfection as a peppery old spinster. Peter Gray provided more comic colour as the "silly ass" Teddie Deakin, concealing a more serious purpose behind his dimwit accent.
David Hampton as the old station-keeper spun his tales of death and disaster with great colour and command of the script. Gaynor Fisher, too, helped stoke up the sense of mystery with her portrayal of the slightly deranged and hysterical young woman whose arrival heightens the mysterious atmosphere. Michael Martin, John Buckle and Matthew Arnold completed a cast which worked together well to make this a surprising evening of shocks and humour.
Darryl McCarthy
Bexley Times | 24 May 2001
