The Last Train to Scarborough (Stephen Joseph Theatre)

Chris Monks doesn’t make it easy for himself as adaptor/director of Andrew Martin‘s The Last Train to Scarborough, readily taking on the challenge of the double-structure of the novel. While a sequential narrative covers the assignment of Detective Sergeant Jim Stringer of the railway police to Scarborough to investigate the disappearance of a railway fireman (this is 1914), a confused and distorted series of impressions and fragments of memory shows Jim in the grip of hallucinations or possibly emerging from a coma.

Monks is very loyal to his source. Inevitably there are some cuts, but only late on does he tweak the story-line and even then he preserves Martin’s series of false endings. Much of the dialogue is taken straight from the page, not always to good effect: the mannered formality is deliberate, I am sure, but gets a bit wearisome. Confronted with the problem of the blurred semi-conscious scenes, Monks opts for keeping many of the words, but often turning thoughts into spoken dialogue. As a result the narrative becomes clearer, the mystery recedes.

The actual mystery that Jim Stringer has to solve is fairly straightforward. There are four suspects in the Paradise guest house where the deed was done: the beautiful landlady drawn to a life-style beyond her resources, her hard-working brain-damaged brother, and two permanent guests, one middle-aged, fastidious and pedantic, one younger and given to disreputable behaviour – drink and dirty post-cards!

Jim’s "investigation" is, as much as anything, devoted to getting the criminal to show his (her?) hand. Therefore the characters become the key focus. Chris Monks’ decision to use a cast of five to play 18 parts works well in many ways. Andy Cryer presents a precise and funny set of caricatures, Jennifer Bryden does a nice line in pert barmaids, but the problem is that they don’t really convince in their main parts.

The production tends towards caricatures, with some odd accents and some rather good funny walks. Steve Huison‘s effete snob is well observed, though Huison misses the ambiguity of Stringer’s boss, the chief inspector. What does emerge very pleasingly in this production is the humour in the conversational exchanges with the literal-minded brother (Liam Evans-Ford).

Then there’s Matthew Booth as Jim Stringer. With the luxury of playing only one part (all the others cope very well with dizzying character changes) he proves ideal casting. Jim is not the most fully rounded of heroes and Booth’s ability to breathe life into very ordinary characters is just what’s needed.

An ambitious venture, with half a page of film credits, The Last Train to Scarborough is a pleasing diversion, but doesn’t really excite – not even with all the video projections!

The Last Train to Scarborough continues at the Stephen Joseph Theatre until 14 June 2014.