Frequent long-distance train travelers know that one of the best ways to pass the time is to steal glances at your seatmates and imagine their back stories.
“The Coast Starlight,” Keith Bunin’s play named for and set on the Los Angeles-Seattle Amtrak line with glorious views of the Pacific, indulges both that fantasy and another. In exploring TJ (Braeden Harris), the AWOL serviceman nervously looking over his shoulder; Liz (Charlotte Boyce Munson), the Esalen attendee loudly narrating a breakup; and Jane (Storm White), the artist drawing sketches of her fellow passengers, the show creates a train car with a vibe.
Despite the disparate backgrounds and random togetherness, passengers on board could almost be at a party. When Liz says, “I’m buying a drink for everybody on this car,” you might wish you, too, were brave enough to improvise a community on your next BART, Caltrain or Amtrak ride — that is, until live wire Ed (Joel Roster) hops on and sets everyone on edge.
For San Jose Stage Company, Rebecca Haley Clark directs the drama of romantic what-ifs and only-in-California characters.