ROCHESTER HILLS, MI–Craig Warner’s Strangers on a Train, now presented at The Meadow Brook, is a taut, suspenseful adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s classic 1950 novel, which was famously adapted into a film by Alfred Hitchcock. Warner’s stage version preserves the tension and psychological complexity of the source material, while offering new insights through a sharp, minimalist theatrical lens.

The story revolves around two men, Guy Haines (Ron Williams), an architect, and Charles Bruno (Stephen Blackwell), a wealthy, eccentric socialite, who meet by chance on a train. Their casual conversation about their personal frustrations takes a sinister turn when Bruno proposes a chilling “exchange of murders.” He suggests that each man kill someone the other wants gone—Guy’s estranged wife Miriam and Bruno’s overbearing father—making them both free of motive and suspicion. Though Guy initially dismisses the suggestion as a dark joke, he soon finds himself drawn into Bruno’s web of manipulation and deceit.

Warner’s adaptation, directed here by Travis W. Walter, maintains a tight focus on the psychological tension between the two men, which is the heart of the story. The character dynamics are compelling and chilling, as Bruno’s obsessive, unpredictable behavior contrasts with Guy’s growing desperation and moral struggle. Bruno, played with a blend of charm and menace, is the engine that drives the plot. He’s magnetic, horrifying, and fascinating all at once, shifting from charming to unhinged with unnerving ease. Guy, on the other hand, is caught in a downward spiral, his sense of control slowly unraveling as he grapples with the consequences of Bruno’s actions and his own complicity.

Warner’s script is a bit plodding, especially compared with the Hitchcock film. Hitchcock took Highsmith’s novel and made numerous changes via writers Whitfield Cook and Czenzi Ormonde (Raymond Chandler is credited with the screenplay, but virtually none of his work made it into the film, but the studio wanted the cachet of his writing credit) to give the story a quicker pace and cinematic quality.

Fans of the movie (The Meadow Brook is playing up the Hitchcock connection) will be confused by Warner’s attachment to Highsmith’s novel (Guy is a tennis player in the film) and key pieces of the film plot are very different from the Warner play. Julia Glander plays Bruno’s Mother, Elsie, a part not developed in the film. There is clearly an “off” vaguely incestuous relationship between the two. That relationship shadows the dark attraction held between Bruno and Guy.

Tobin Hissong plays private detective Frank Myers, and Chip DuFord plays investigator Arthur Gerard. Both actors inhabit their roles well as foils to the plot that is afoot.

The play delves into the psychology of the characters in a way that feels both modern and timeless. Guy’s moral dilemma—whether to remain a passive victim or to take control of the situation, despite the cost—is at the center of the narrative, making him a deeply sympathetic figure. The moral ambiguity of the situation keeps the audience on edge, questioning how far Guy will go to extricate himself from Bruno’s influence, and what price he’s willing to pay to protect his own life and reputation.

The set, designed by Brian Kessler, which contains several different scene settings, is first-rate. The use of lighting (Brian Debs) and sound (Matthew R. Chase) design often evokes the eerie, suspenseful atmosphere that was so central to Hitchcock’s film, while also creating a mood of psychological entrapment that feels distinct to the stage.

While the play is deeply rooted in the genre of psychological thriller, it also delves into themes of power, guilt, and the randomness of fate. Bruno represents chaos, a man without moral boundaries, who acts out of a sense of entitlement and sadistic pleasure. Guy, meanwhile, is trapped in a moral quandary, and Warner’s adaptation deftly explores how ordinary people can be drawn into extraordinary—and horrifying—situations through a combination of circumstance and poor choices.

If there is a weakness in the production, it may be that some of the secondary characters feel underdeveloped in comparison to the rich psychological depth of Guy and Bruno. Characters like Guy’s fiancée Anne (Ashley Wickett) and Robert Treacher (David Moan) serve more as plot devices to propel the story forward rather than fully fleshed-out individuals. That said, their presence is essential to the play’s broader commentary on relationships, control, and the destructive power of obsession.

Ultimately, Strangers on a Train succeeds as a tight, effective psychological noir thriller that examines the fine line between good and evil, and it keeps the audience engaged until the tense climax.