In this country he’d be called a trainspotter, but in America Darius McCollum is a criminal. This energetically and imaginatively staged play charts the life of one of New York’s greatest legends - the boy who ‘’stole” the E Train.
Initially a tad frenetic and confusing, Boy Steals Train quickly settles down to show Darius’ rise from besotted kid to being one of the most competent, albeit illegal, train drivers in New York. Along the way we are introduced to a whole host of characters who took a shine to the friendly kid, who would rather study timetables than algebra, and taught him their trades.
What started as the occasional run back to the yard escalates into large scale skiving, leaving Darius running trains all over New York. Naturally this can’t last forever and he soon makes his first of many stays in prison. The play quickly covers his subsequent arrests, reversal in friendships and loyalties and the possibility that his obsession could be born out of Aspergers Syndrome, a highly functional version of autism. As Boy Steals Train comes to the end of its line, it is revealed that Darius is still awaiting parole from a maximum-security prison and the audience is encouraged to write to him.
Boy Steals Train makes little of visual aids - the movement of a few flight cases constitutes a scene change and the retying of a garment a character change - and relies on the performers to recreate the scene. They do this with ease and manage to conjure up sets as disparate as a transport museum and a prison and populate them with a wide range of believable characters.
In a world where reality TV is clogging up the airwaves, it is wonderful to see some ”reality theatre” as vibrant and colourful as Boy Steals Train.
5/5
Richard Biggs
