The Titfield Thunderbolt

What a lovely evening we had watching Rainhill Garrick’s production of “The Titfield Thunderbolt” written by Philip Goulding and based on the 1953 comedy film of the same name. We were taken back to a bygone age when steam engines pulled our trains; there was no social media, only a few homes had a television, and when those wonderful British cinematic experiences collectively named The Ealing Comedies were popular. These films starred many iconic British actors, and the cast of The Titfield Thunderbolt was no exception as it included iconic actors such as Stanley Holloway, John Gregson, Hugh Griffin and Sid James.

Set in the village of Titfield the story follows a group of villagers who are trying against all the odds to keep their branch railway line operating after British Railways decided to close it, and I am happy to say that we the audience were privy to the high jinks that the villagers got up to while trying to achieve their goal.

Director Judith Martindale had a group of talented actors at her disposal and between them they produced some entertaining characters with good accents and generally some good comic timing. The cast of this play is rather larger than normal, but I would like to mention Tracy Duffy who gave a strong performance in the substantial central role of the no nonsense Lady Edna Chesterterford. George Lowe was believable as the Engine driving local Vicar Sam Weech and Jenny Martindale was just right as Sam’s niece Joan Weech. There were some enjoyable comedy performances which included David Parker as poacher Dan Taylor, Gerald Walker as Vernon Crump, who’s character saw an opportunity planning to run a bus service when the line closed and Richard Parker was his son steamroller driver Harry Crump, Gerald, and Richard complement each other nicely and worked well together as a comedy duo at times during the production when their characters were trying to thwart the villager's plans. Although he had a principal role Richard also played Sergeant Wilson and his resemblance to another character was remarked upon by his fellow actors on stage. Michael Brennan gave us a suitably flamboyant and permanently inebriated Mr Valentine and Linda Saavedra as Miss Coggett was very funny when speaking in a Welsh/cockney accent, also her character of the old women when a member of the chorus was very enjoyable. Tom Nevitt was also suitably pompous as town planner Mr Blakeworth and Tim Evans was officious as British Rail representative Mr Ruddock. Other roles who supported the principle cast well included Rob Williams as Clifton and Mr Clegg, and Ruth Proffitt as Mrs Bottomley. All the above were ably assisted by three ladies as passengers namely Angela Vose, Alison Mawdsley and Edi Tinsley. The dialogue was clear and could be heard meaning the story was easily followed and the pace of the action ran generally well although it did slow occasionally, and a few of the punchlines were lost, however this did not detract from my enjoyment of the play.

All the cast appeared to enjoy themselves working together to produce a lovely evening’s entertainment which included some audience participation which was a very enjoyable interlude.

There was no scenery, scenes were set with the use of large props which worked very well, and scene changes were undertaken by cast members while in character which was very efficient and resulted in very smooth scene changes. I was impressed at the way that some of the props were used to make the Thunderbolt train towards the end of the play, it was very innovative, well done, this all helped to produce a very good platform for the cast to work on. Costumes were generally suitable for the era and the characters they were playing. Well done Stage manager Rosetta Parker, Lighting Design Graham Swift and Sound Lynn Aconley and all backstage workers. 

Congratulations to everyone including front of house for a lovely evening and an entertaining production, thank you for making us welcome. 

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