'Strangers on a Train'

Limelight's latest production is 'Strangers on a Train, based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith and scripted by Craig Warner. The production is directed by Helen Lorie and starring Stuart Gordon, Mark Haigh, Charlotte Faber-Scott, Carole Morris, Nick Moss, Hayden Cohen and Stephen Foreman.

There are three showings on Wednesday 25th (7.30), Thursday 26th (7.30) and Saturday 28th February 2009 (7.45). Up until a week before these shows, tickets can be obtained from Harry Venet (Tel:0113 2250651) or through any of the cast.

Here is the synopsis:

Architect Guy Haines and wealthy loner Charles Bruno meet by chance on a train. They chat and discover that each has someone in his life that he would rather be without. A simple solution, jokes Bruno – you kill my target and I’ll kill yours, so there’ll be no motive. A good joke . . . until the first murder takes place and the pressure builds for the completion of the bargain – the perfect murder . . .

Alfred Hitchcock took the plot from Patricia Highsmith’s novel, twisted it somewhat and in 1951 produced one of the most iconic films noirs of all time. Playwright Craig Warner acquired the theatre rights in 1995 and wrote the play that Limelight are presenting at the Carriageworks. Warner disregarded the film (how could anyone successfully out-Hitchcock Hitchcock?) and returned to the original novel for his principal plot, though there are some differences in the denouement, which make it more appropriate for the stage. Strangers On A Train has been staged successfully worldwide and is a welcome addition to the Carriageworks’ 2009 winter programme.

Here is the flyer (click to enlarge):