The Court Theatre’s Ryman Healthcare 2022 Season is finally underway as The Girl on the Train prepares to open its five-week season, and the revised 2022 line-up, on 21 May.

Based on the 2015 international best-selling novel, The Girl on the Train follows Rachel Watson, a recently divorced 33-year-old whose life has fallen apart. On her journeys to and from ‘work’ each day she becomes increasingly fixated on a couple she sees from the train window. When the wife suddenly disappears, Rachel involves herself in the investigation, but as she tries to find the truth of what happens, she starts to unearth secrets that neither she, nor anyone else, were prepared for.

“Our new season has been a long-time coming” says Artistic Director Dr Alison Walls, “but we were determined to open with a show that is guaranteed to make a big impression. The Girl on the Train is full of suspense and intrigue that will be a whole new experience even to fans of the bestselling 2015 novel or the movie.”

Holding the vision for this mysterious thriller is Holly Chappell, who directed 2021’s Frankenstein for The Court Theatre. “I am incredibly excited to be bringing The Girl on the Train to the stage this year. Being able to create theatre at the moment feels like a true gift” says Holly.

Holly describes The Girl on the Train as “a heart-racing mystery thriller that dives into the world of desire, secrets and lies. I cannot wait to play in this world and bring the journey of this show to The Court audiences” she says. Audiences can expect almost cinematic influenced experience in which they too will find themselves voyeurs, spying into the lives being revealed onstage.

The cast of The Girl on the Train began rehearsals after Easter, with creative and production teams - including a stunt / fight choreographer and an intimacy choreographer - in full swing even earlier. This gripping thriller features a cast of well-known New Zealand actors and Court regulars in a story designed to keep you guessing until the very end.

Helping Chappell to bring her vision for the play to life is Set Designer Dan Williams, known to Court Theatre followers for his creative and sometimes surprising sets for 2021’s shows Once and Little Shop of Horrors. This set - which must evoke spaces from characters’ homes to train carriages and street action - promises just as much innovation.

“We’re so glad that we can now welcome full houses back to the Court, and to what we know will be a phenomenal show” says Walls.

The Girl on the Train plays at The Court Theatre 21 May – 25 June 2022.

“A contemporary and complex psycho-thriller, a "whodunnit" with twists and turns, anticipations and numerous attempts to guess just who is guilty and who is not.” – Broadway World