Trains return to haunt Wrington!

People buying tickets for Wrington Drama Club's production of The Ghost Train by Arnold Ridley noticed that the atmosphere was already being set. These tickets were an exact replica of an old GWR train ticket.
The collector on the door at the Memorial Hall was dressed in 1920s style uniform: and Peter Langley did front-of-house duties clad in waiter's gear, addressing the audience as though they were occupants of a railway carriage.

When the tremendous sounds of a steam engine assaulted our ears, we were expecting it to burst through the wall - scary or what? The scene set in a drab wayside waiting room - authentic posters and time-tables and a moribund coal fire - enhanced the feeling of frustration felt by the stranded passengers.

Sustained roles

The two couples sustained their roles well and mastered a wordy script - there were one or two "dries" in the four-day run but who cares? Noel Hector, barely recognisable with slicked-down black hair, played the Bertie Wooster type upper class twit so amusingly. It was a clever disguise for a high-ranking police officer on the trail of gun-runners.

Peter Jones made something of the jobsworth stationmaster - "That chair don't come out the office" - "Oh yes it does - look!" ...and oh dear, he's in league with the criminals too.

What would the vicar say?

There was a good in-joke when prim Miss Bourne (Pat Milne), inebriated on medicinally-administered brandy, quavers "What would the vicar say?" - well, our rector Noel was in the cast, wasn't he?

A creepy trio of villains included Gaby Sheridan as schizophrenic - her athletic "faint" backwards off a table as a window smashed and the door flew open was really spinechilling. It was accentuated by the sounds of an approaching train and eerie lighting effects. Full marks to those guys and girls on that technical team.

Splendid costumes - I loved the hats - cute little ones for the ladies and those fedoras straight out of the black and white films. Oh and the P.C. Plod's tall hat and cape.

Thank you to everybody who contributed to this latest runaway (train) hit.

Rosemary Hodges