EVERYONE has done it. Locked eyes with a beautiful stranger at the train station, and within minutes have imagined a long and happy future together – only for them to be cruelly snatched away by the 7.42 service to Swansea.

It is this daydream-like quality that the Torch Theatre has managed to capture in its latest production, an adaptation of iconic love story Brief Encounter.

One of cinema’s most celebrated romances, the original 1945 film by David Lean was nominated for several Oscars for its telling of this tale of temptation and longing.

Written by prolific playwright Noel Coward, the plot centres on suburban housewife Laura, played by Laura Penneycard, whose conventional life is turned upside down by a chance meeting with married doctor Alec (played by Matt Wilman) at the fictional Milford railway station.

Despite their seemingly unremarkable initial encounter, fate draws the pair together again, and they soon find themselves complicit in a subtle yet powerful love affair.

Set in a more conservative time, the couple’s passion is subtly portrayed, and yet perfectly captures the sweet agony of an ultimately doomed relationship.

Telling not just one love story, but three, the supporting cast were excellent, providing touching vignettes of love’s many faces, and plenty of comic relief.

Film clips and projections were also used with striking efficiency – audiences will find it hard to believe how a full-size train carriage can fit on stage this small – to provide a sense of time and place.

And the clever choreography, toe-tapping tunes, visual gags and an impressive chandelier-swinging duet are sure to appeal to fans of Great Gatsby and Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann’s work.

My only criticism would be that the physical manifestation of the lovers’ ‘waves of emotion’ was clunky and somewhat incongruous, and added little to the overall flow of the play.

Despite its ‘must watch’ status, many of my fellow audience members confessed they had not seen the original film.

But thanks to an engaging cast, stirring soundtrack, and clever visual touches, this latest production looks likely to attract a whole new generation to this classic love story.

Brief Encounter runs at The Torch Theatre until Saturday, October 24, at 7.30pm with matinee performances at 2.30pm on October 21 and 24.

For tickets visit www.torchtheatre.co.uk or telephone 01646 695267.