Vertigo will stage a thrilling adaptation of The Girl on the Train

Here's a question worth exploring: Why are Vertigo shows so fun?

The Last Vertigo Show, The girl on the trainis a perfect example of the pleasures of investigating murder and mayhem on stage.

Adapted from Paul Hawkins' bestselling novel and film starring Emily Blunt and Justin Theroux, The girl on the train is the theatrical equivalent of a supermarket thriller.

I've never read the novel or seen the movie, so I felt a little behind on Thursday night, trying to catch up on the journey of Rachel Watson (Lauren Brotman), who we met after the bender. Rachel's got a gash on her forehead, she's in a hurry, and she's suffering from memory gaps when her neighbor Megan Hipwell (Filsan Dualeach) goes missing on Saturday night.

Rachel is the third wheel in the relationship between Tom (Tyrrell Crews) and Anna (Anna Kammer) – an ex who won't let her go – and any date she has with another person, whether it's Tom (Tyrrell Crews), Anna. or Megan's husband Scott (Stafford Perry) who is full of social awkwardness.

Megan goes missing at the train station, Rachel may or may not be there when it happens, and the cops D.I. When Gaskill (Jamie Konchak) turns up, he appears to be the prime suspect. single, formerly married, alcoholic wild woman with poor memory.

It turns out that alcohol has cost Rachel her job downtown, but Rachel continues to take the train downtown every day, all the better to focus on the lives of the people who live in the buildings along the way, including Scott and Megan's house. he likes to watch them from trains that go nowhere.

Have you run away yet?

Lauren Brotman brings to Rachel Watson a mix of emotional dysfunction, perpetual hangovers, and a patchy memory that makes her the most unreliable narrator ever to try to solve a murder mystery, and succeed.

Tyrell Crews, Tom Watson, as Rachel's ex-boyfriend, manages to combine being a normal guy with something a little more out of the ordinary.

Stafford Perry as Missing Megan's husband Scott is a Vertigo personality you're not entirely sure of, and Anna Cummer's Anna Watson stares daggers at Rachel every time she and Anna Watson share a scene.

As Megan, Dualea delivers plenty of je ne sais quoi, while Mike Tan darkens as an arrogant therapist who may or may not know more than he lets on.

Vertigo's artistic director Jack Greenhouse demonstrates a masterful connection with playwrights Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel's vividly written adaptation of the bestselling novel, aided by Hannah Loosen's well-designed set and designer Brendan Brisland's typically brilliant video projections.

As theater companies around the world struggle to return to empty seats, The girl on the train It's a one-act supermarket thriller.

The Girl on the Train runs until April 14. For more information, go here.