Situated in a waiting room at Stockport Train station The Suitcase, The Beggar and the Wind was performed by Didsbury based theatre group ‘Gare du Nord’ as part of the Greater Manchester Fringe Festival.
The entire play took place in the waiting room and represented five fairly intricate characters and their lives and showed how they interacted on a platform at Station whilst waiting for a train.
The ‘passer-by’ was played by Geoff Baker who produced the performance too. His day job is as a Customer Services Adviser for Virgin Trains at the Station and so his insight into this setting clearly added to the richness of the performance itself. He played the role of a man who clearly had some personal challenges in life. His character seemed isolated and somewhat socially awkward. He appeared to have some mental health issues and potentially some degree of autism. On arriving in the waiting room he approached me ‘in character’ asking me whether he was at the right station- he used few words to do this and pointed at a timetable he held and stared at intently.
He gave money to ‘the beggar’ (Michael Johnson) and was often on the platform in various hats. His mood improved dramatically when he met a fellow passenger’s wife (Saara Kavanagh). He demonstrated a change in his mood, delighted to connect and communicate with someone who understood him and whom he had things in common with. They planned a journey together on a train each delighting in the other ones excitement of the trip. ‘We could ride to countries we’d never hope to live in’, they exclaimed. His thoughts and feelings ran away at speed before it all ended again and he went back to his isolated character – I’m ‘just a passer-by’ was often expressed by the cast.
All five actors were excellent in the simplistic way they adopted various characters on the Station. A special mention must go out to Michael Johnson who played his guitar and sang for the whole hour. The songs were appropriately linked to various aspects of the play.
Prior to arriving at Stockport Station I had considered how a play at a busy train station, essentially performed between two platforms, would actually work, but the setting was simply perfect. The play was occurring amidst the announcements via the speaker on the actual platforms and it only added to the authenticity of the production.
All proceeds from the play appropriately went to the mental health charity Rethink and was generously supported by Virgin Trains in doing this.
This production was simple, charming and thought provoking. It was a story about personal aspirations embedded in daily life. Gare du Nord share a charming story with the audience in this production - a joy to watch, leaving the audience with many aspects to ponder over.
Reviewer: Angela Kelly
Reviewed: 7th July 2017
North West End Rating: ★★★★
