The Angel Rails is the intense monologues of four bereaved survivors of a rail disaster who gradually tell the story of how their lives have become embroiled through tragedy and malice. These four characters form a common goal; after seeing the driver of the train who wrenched their loved ones away from them they hatch a plan to reap vengeance

The minimal staging of this gave no clues as to the plot, or visual aids for imagination; the result is a vivid audience experience as the description leads, but does not cage, your imagination of the scenes. 

As their various devious retribution plays out they begin to manipulate each other, just as they are manipulating the driver. It is clear they are searching for a sense of family, some form of putrid catharsis that will bond them together through their shared loss of self, as well as their loss of loved one.

However, this play leaves you far from pitying the bereaved. What begins as a vicious self-righteous enactment of justice reveals how depraved the victims themselves are. Frank, played by Marco Young, turns out to be aroused by the child pornography he is using to attempt to incriminate the train driver. Gradually, each victim reveals the gruesome underbelly of their psyche. Marco Young played Frank’s sickening arousal by the graphic material with disturbing ease.

Mark, played by Tom Stuchfield, is both the father figure and the mastermind of their plot. Stuchfield was convincing throughout the performance and maintained a balance of composure and aggression.  Gloria, young and beautifully self-absorbed, was played rather hurriedly by Sam Brain; her delivery slowed down towards the end of the performance and certainly benefited from it. However, I feel like Gloria would have been slightly more affected than Sam Brain demonstrated, at being made to sleep with the train driver in order to gain access to his home. Having been really impressed by Lili Thomas in a number of other roles I was a little disappointed with her performance of Rachel. Rachel, the Christian who has lots her way and found herself in the arms of Mark, was a little overplayed by Lili Thomas.

I felt like the piece could have done with a little more movement, in the chairs they were sitting on at least, if not actually around the stage. Eerie sounds were played as the sinister nature of the play was gradually revealed; these were intensely effective against the stillness of the stage, adding to the increasingly uneasy atmosphere in the audience.

Clever writing and a good, if not impressive, performance lulls you into assuming who is the victim and who is the devil, only to have this perception wholly reversed. The ending is both socking and deeply affecting; this performance left me feeling a little unwell at the facets of human behaviour. The performance was engaging but lacked a little lustre.