Put forward on the screen by Hitchcock, “Strangers on a Train”, inspired by a novel by Patricia Highsmith, is now revived on stage by Alessandro Gassman (alias Guy) and Giuseppe Fiorello (alias Charles): a daring challenge they have taken up and won. The staging has involved quite a number of difficulties: the variety of places in which the scenes were to take place (solved by means of searchlights aimed at limiting specific spaces), and also the suspense atmosphere, which is certainly not that easy to recreate only with voices and background sounds, without the Hollywood special effects.

The plot is really intriguing: two people, who have absolutely nothing in common and are travelling to two different destinations, meet on a train. They have never met before and “possibly” they would have never met again, had it not been for that “idea of two perfect crimes” which will firmly bind their lives together, badly upsetting them from then on. Guy, a well-known architect, married to a wicked woman who has committed adultery with her husband’s best friend, and Charles, a layabout living on his wealthy and, in his opinion, despotic father, during a conversation over a meal on the train reach the decision to murder each other’s “obstacle”: Guy is supposed to kill Charles’ father and Charles should in turn murder Guy’s wife. The existence of no motive and the fact that the two do not know each other are thought to be the guarantee for performing a perfect crime. Charles fulfils “his commitment” by murdering Guy’s wife (so that Guy is able to marry his true lifelong love) and it is now Guy’s turn, but he is unsure, he does not feel like carrying out a plan which he had only regarded as a “pourparler” without a sequel. An unconscious and fatally morbid attraction develops between the two, causing them to cling to each other and causing the darkest and most hidden side of their personality to surface. We end up by wondering whether each one of us, placed under pressure, may or may not become a murderer and commit a crime he would never have conceived to be able to perform. I won’t reveal the rest of the story in order not to spoil the suspense of this nail-biting thriller, which will leave you on edge right to the end, almost as if you were reading a detective story straight through. Hitchcock’s voice welcoming the audience immediately creates an atmosphere presaging bloodshed, and once the curtain is raised the play starts, marked by intervals and silences that contribute in heightening the drama. Ladies and gentleman, all aboard! We’re off!!!
Translated by interpres sas