WHEN the Girl on the Train opens at the Lowry, you almost feel you are joining her on her journey as houses flash by seen from separate compartments above the stage.

Paula Hawkins’ 2015 work and the Dreamworks film of it were both hits.

Now it has arrived here, adapted by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel with Samantha Womack in the title role as Rachel.

Every day, she pretends to commute to work so that she can gaze at the perfect couple in their garden which happens to be near Rachel’s former matrimonial home. That is until the woman, Megan, disappears.

Rachel has just divorced her husband, Tom (Adam Jackson-Smith) and she also uses her travels to achieve alcoholic oblivion.

One day, she wakes up with memory loss and a bandage round her head. Then a Detective Inspector turns up inquiring about Megan’s disappearance and the plot thickens.

Suffice to say that Rachel’s ex and his new wife, Anna (Lowenna Melrose) have a baby which makes Rachel jealous.

It’s an interesting story with unexpected twists and turns and, unless you have seen the film, not easy to follow.

The theme is too level without any humour to release the tension and the large Lyric theatre stage not intimate enough for the release of emotion often featuring just two people.

The use of loud electronic music becomes tiresome after a while.

That said, the plot portrays an interesting turn of events and the dramatic ending reveals light at the end of the tunnel.

* The Girl on the Train is at the Lowry until Saturday, April 6. For tickets, telephone 0843 208 6000

or book on line at thelowry.com. Star rating: * * *