Samantha Womack to star in The Girl On the Train UK and Ireland tour
© Dan Wooller for WhatsOnStage
Samantha Womack is to take on the role of Rachel Watson in the UK and Ireland tour of The Girl on the Train, which will now run until November 2019.
The show is an adaptation of Paula Hawkins' thriller novel and the subsequent Dreamworks film. It follows Rachel who watches what she thinks of as the perfect couple from the train window every day, in order to escape a life she hates. When she finds herself a witness to a possible crime, her life changes completely.
Womack's previous stage roles include the recent The Addams Family musical and films including Kingsman. She is best known for playing Ronnie Mitchell in EastEnders.
She said: "Having been thoroughly captivated by the novel, the opportunity to take on a role like this is incredibly exciting. I've been fascinated by thrillers for a long time and this kind of storytelling, like Hitchcock's Rear Window, offers us a voyeurs journey into a world which is dangerous and full of suspense."
Joining Womack in the cast is Oliver Farnworth as Scott, John Dougall as DI Gaskill, Naeem Hayatt as Kamal Abdic, Adam Jackson-Smith as Tom Watson, Lowenna Melrose as Anna Watson, and Kirsty Oswald as Megan Hipwell. They are joined by Philippa Flynn and Matt Concannon in the ensemble.
The production is directed by Anthony Banks with designs from James Cotterill. The show opened originally at the Leeds Playhouse (formerly West Yorkshire Playhouse) and starred Jill Halfpenny as Rachel. In our four-star review of the show, WhatsOnStage reviewer James Willstrop called it 'a must'.
The tour will continue running and has now been extended until November 2019, travelling to a further fourteen theatres in Oxford, Canterbury, Birmingham, Aberdeen, Bradford, High Wycombe, Cambridge, Plymouth, Swindon, Bromley, Malvern, Woking, Eastbourne and Cardiff.
The Girl on the Train is adapted by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel and is directed by Anthony Banks with set and costumes by James Cotterill, lighting by Jack Knowles, sound by Ben and Max Ringham, projection design by Andrzej Goulding and fights by Alison de Burgh.
