The Train stops at Vertigo

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It’s been fairly a journey for Rachel Watson, the heroine of Paula Hawkins’ The Woman on the Practice, and it’s nowhere close to being over.

Rachel, an alcoholic who suffers blackouts and extreme reminiscence loss, begins investigating a homicide she would possibly simply be part of.

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The novel was printed in 2015 and, inside six years, had bought greater than 23 million copies worldwide, making it one of the vital profitable up to date thrillers. The 2016 movie model starring Emily Blunt grossed $173 million and gained her greatest actress nominations for an Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globes. It was tailored for the stage in 2018 by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel, and has toured the U.Okay. ever since. Vertigo Theatre is presenting the Canadian premiere of The Woman on the Practice till April 14.

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Lauren Brotman stars as Rachel who rides the prepare every day to spy on her former husband Tom (Tyrell Crews) and his new spouse Anna (Anna Cummer). She additionally turns into obsessive about the couple’s neighbours, Megan (Filsan Dualeh) and Scott (Stafford Perry), who she believes are the right couple, however as Rachel quickly learns, nobody is ideal.

Brotman says she isn’t intimidated by the recognition of the e-book and movie as a result of “these two variations of Rachel’s story are vastly totally different than the journey she takes within the play. Even when somebody is acquainted with the e-book or movie, they’re in for a really totally different sort of expertise.

“As Rachel, I by no means depart the stage. I deliver the opposite characters into my world and I’m going into theirs. Hanne Loosen’s set, Brendan Briceland’s projection designs and Narda McCarroll’s lighting are all extremely imaginative. To observe them create the worlds of the play will likely be a journey in itself for the viewers. Rachel’s world is spiralling uncontrolled. To resolve the homicide, she has to attempt to cease the world from spinning in her thoughts, and he or she takes the viewers on that very same journey. The play is extraordinarily fast-paced, however you continue to get all of the drama that was so vital within the movie.”

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Brotman says this model of The Woman on the Practice is a whodunit in addition to a psychological thriller.

“There’s a homicide so there’s a killer, and we’ve got to study who. All of the characters within the story are flawed ultimately so they’re all suspects, together with Rachel due to her blackouts and reminiscence loss. Due to her alcoholism, she can also be an unreliable narrator. We don’t understand how a lot to consider of what she says or thinks she noticed. When her reminiscence does begin to return, issues are very disjointed. This makes for such intriguing scenes with Rachel and the detective (Jamie Konchak) who’s investigating the case.

The Woman on the Practice is directed by Vertigo Theatre’s creative director Jack Grinhaus who’s Brotman’s husband.

“Jack and I first labored collectively 20 years in the past once we created a fringe play referred to as Rougher Commerce. We now have tried to do a minimum of one venture a yr collectively ever since. This will likely be our first collaboration in Calgary and we’re so excited as a result of, even within the brief time we’ve got been in Calgary, we’re actually starting to really feel we’re part of the theatre group.”

Brotman says they’ve realized tips on how to juggle their private {and professional} lives.

“We now have set boundaries. Once we get within the automotive after a rehearsal, we use the trip house to decompress. We’re very totally different folks once we enter our house. We depart the director and actor roles for the subsequent day and the rehearsal corridor.”

Vertigo Theatre is presenting the Canadian premiere of The Woman on the Practice till April 14.

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