‘Train Show’ Review

By William Curvan

Last Friday and Saturday, the Scotch’n’Soda subtroupe New Works Coffeehouse put on a show about a train.

The show did not have a plot or central conflict, nor was it a collection of unrelated scenes; it was “a show of ten-minute plays,” according to the program. Nine scenes take place on the same train — stories of romance, time travel, and deals with the devil. These distinct one-act scenes were threaded together by taking place on the metaphorically ambiguous “train.”

As our conductor, Trey DuBose, calls out “all aboard” in a voice as clear as a train whistle, our passengers line up in front of the most minimal of sets: two rooms, divided by a sliding train door. After the first blackout, the show follows as such:

“Neverland”

On one half of the set, two hyperactive children (Kristin Coffman, Sienna Lehner) are on vacation, hypothesizing about what unimaginably cool things their parents might be doing in the adults-only “bar car.” In the bar car, their parents are having a somber conversation about adulthood when they are accosted by a ghost who, with a snap, steals their most “prized possession.” The father (Gabriel Prado), worried that he lost his “work files,” discovers he has instead lost his lucky crayon, a symbol of his dream to be an artist he had long abandoned. After the father spills his heart out over this crayon, the ghost returns this item and lets the parents reunite with their children who, in their overactive imagination, had drawn out the fantastical scene they had just experienced.

“Running Man”

Hannah Hayes plays Petra, a politician who is taking the train to Washington, D.C. when she spots Zeke, her imaginary “guy who runs alongside the train friend,” played by Trey DuBose, who at no point in the scene ceases swinging his arms in a jaunty fashion. Zeke, with childlike innocence, asks Petra why she never lived out her dream of becoming president. Petra has to admit how ambition cost her a career and a family. Zeke asks her why she never stops moving, and begs her to stop traveling so that he can know what it’s like to be still.

“Meet Cute Loop”

Julia (Alayna Pak) wants to approach John (Trey DuBose), a mysterious man sitting three rows ahead of her. After six iterations of a groundhog day-style time loop, she realizes that his constant rejection of her advances are nothing more than manifestations of her own insecurity. When she breaks the loop and finally approaches John in real life, the two are giddy to sit together.

“A Tale of Two Gangs”

In a sudden turn of absurdism, two groups of mobsters each try to swindle one another on a deal involving the trade of two magical items (with constant references to a tragedy at “the deli,” which nobody dares speak of). The deal turns sour and a shootout with bright plastic ray-guns ensues. When the smoke clears, the leaders of the two gangs settle their differences and, much to the “awww” of the audience, reveal wedding rings; they vow to go on the honeymoon they had always dreamed of and to reopen their old deli.

“Lurches”

Two women tell one another about their exes: what went wrong, what they miss, and what they want for the future. Rosalina (Amishi Jain) never seems to recognize, however, that they are on a train, insisting they are on a double-decker bus in London. They never quite agree on where they are or what the point of their journey is.

“Deal with the Devil”

In the show’s darkest moment, we meet Eve (Susanna Britton), a mother traveling across the country to beg her insurance company to cover her daughter’s lung cancer treatment. A slick-dressing, chain-smoking lawyer (Shayan Panjwani) tells her he can help — he can remove her daughter’s cancer, but he must transfer the tumor to Eve’s ex-husband, a smoker whose habit gave the child this illness. Eve shakes the devil’s hand and agrees she would save her daughter at any cost, only to realize the tumor was transferred to her own lung. As Eve keels over in a coughing fit, blood-red lighting washes over Satan as he turns to ask the audience, “who’s next?”

“Lights Out”

A ring sits on a table as a man and woman try to avoid talking about the failed proposal that just took place between them. Mateo (Kausthub Satluri) begs his girlfriend Anya (Talia Qaiser) to explain what he did wrong, only to become frustrated at what seems to be her fear of the future; she’s simply too afraid of the dark, he concludes. When the train grinds to a halt, the couple sees what appears to be snow falling over an unrecognizable landscape out the window. Mateo implores her to move with him to the next car, where it may be safer, but Anya insists that what’s in the next car may be even worse.

“Herebound”

Two pickpockets huddle over an oil lamp in the dim back rooms of the train while assessing their haul of mostly inconsequential trinkets; Jackdaw (Evans Toviave) seems more excited about a child’s drawing he pulls out of someone’s coin purse than the $90 besides it. As they go through their items, we realize they have taken items from some familiar characters on this train. Jackdaw tells his friend, Housefinch (Opally Taebunyanuphap), how he dreams of getting off the train one day.

“A Gentle Moment”

Mary (Molly Niehaus) waits at the station for her son, Mateo, to arrive with his newly-proposed-to fianceé. A trenchcoat-wearing mobster known only as “B” (Matthew Yang) asks Mary why she seems to disapprove of the match so much. Jackdaw stumbles onto the platform, crying for his friend and begging the strangers to tell him when the next train is coming so he can get back to the only home he’s ever known.

The train was metaphorical and literal: a means to an end, as well as a liminal world unto itself that cocoons its passengers; a machine that never stops moving and never asks you where you want to go, yet always takes you where you need to be.