AUDITIONS: 

The Girl on the Train

Based on the bestselling novel by Paula Hawkins and DreamWorks film

Adapted by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel

DIRECTOR: Josh Raymond

STAGE MANAGER: David Anderson

AUDITION DATES: Sunday, December 4 (6:30pm-8pm) or Tuesday, December 6 (6:30pm-8pm)

SHOW DATES: February 24, 25, 26 & March 3, 4, 5

Welcoming actors of all races, ethnicity, national origin, religion, mental and physical abilities, sexual/affectional orientation, gender and its expression.

A selection of sides will be made available at the theater by two weeks before audition dates. They can be picked up anytime 24/7 from the drop-box located on the outside wall to the right of the front entrance doors to the theater. Please only take one copy of each reading that applies.

SHOW DESCRIPTION:

Based on the bestselling novel by Paula Hawkins and the DreamWorks film, this show follows Rachel Watson who longs for a different life. Her only escape is the perfect couple she watches through the train window every day, happy and in love. Or so it appears. When Rachel learns that the woman she’s been secretly watching has suddenly disappeared, she finds herself as a witness and even a suspect in a thrilling mystery in which she will face bigger revelations than she could ever have anticipated.

ROLES AVAILABLE & CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS:

Character age range:  Male: 30-45 Female: 30-45

Character requirements: British accent

Rachel Watson – She is the title’s girl on the train, the protagonist of the story. She goes every day on the same morning and evening trains, observing the same suburban houses beside the tracks. However, there is one house that she watches every day, naming the people in it, Jess and Jason. She loves this house because it reminds her of her past, perfect life, before her divorce from Tom. However, after witnessing a tryst going on between “Jess” and another man, and “Jess” going missing shortly afterwards, Rachel gets involved in a crime scene related to this house’s inhabitants.

Megan Hipwell – Rachel’s “Jess”, actually called Megan, feels conflicted in her marriage, often seeking comfort in her husband Scott but also finding him overprotective. She has affairs with her therapist and, we later find, with Tom. On a Saturday night in July, she goes missing and days later she is found dead. Much of Megan’s trauma comes from the death of her brother Ben and the later death of her child, Libby, who she had while living with a boyfriend named Craig.

Scott Hipwell – Rachel’s “Jason”, actually called Scott, is suspected of killing Megan because they had a fight prior to her departure and subsequent death. He and Rachel form a friendship and brief sexual relationship when she reveals what she learned about Megan’s affair. In the end, he is proven innocent.

Kamal Abdic – Kamal is Megan’s, and briefly Rachel’s, therapist. He is the man Rachel sees kissing Megan from the train. He and Megan were having an affair, but he suspects it was based on transference, a common occurrence for patients and their therapists. He is suspected of killing Megan due to this romantic link, but he denies this and is set free due to insufficient evidence.

Tom Watson – Tom is Rachel’s ex-husband. Tom and Rachel divorced after Rachel grew depressed by their infertility and he began cheating on her with Anna. Though Rachel still very much loves him two years later, she discovers that he was having an affair with Megan during his marriage to Anna and that he was Megan’s killer. Tom is a compulsive liar, which he covers with charm and by blaming others, especially the women in his life.

Anna Watson – Anna is Tom’s new wife. She hates Rachel and gets annoyed when Tom talks to or about her. Anna is very happy with her life with Tom and their baby girl, and takes pleasure in power. She especially liked being the “other woman” when Tom and Rachel were still married. 

Detective Inspector Gaskill – He is one of the detectives working Megan’s case. Rachel has a hot and cold relationship with this detective, who sometimes is kind to her and sometimes is more rough in his questioning.