Review: Tabs Productions deliver first-class version of The Ghost Train
1920s melodrama can’t be taken entirely seriously, and there are more than a few laughs in Nick Briggs’s polished production for Chesterfield-based Tabs Productions.
It’s an ensemble piece, and the cast of eleven is a strong one, but a few performances stand out: Sarah Wynne Kordas’s naïve honeymooning bride; Andrew Ryan’s star comic turn as hooray henry Teddie Deacon in tweed plus-fours; the excellent Sue Earnshaw as elderly dragon Miss Bourne.
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Hide AdBut the real stars of the production are the special effects. The dingy waiting room set with its dim windows, sulky fire and old posters is spooky enough; add in eerie lighting, including a train you’d swear really passed through, and David Gilbrook’s wonderful sound effects, and the cold shivers come even faster than the laughs.
The Ghost Train is a fun night out, well worth the drive to Nottingham. It gets the Thriller Season off to a first-rate start, and runs till Saturday, August 2.
LYNNE PATRICK