The Railway Children

Mike Kenny’s imaginative stage adaptation of E. Nesbit's much-loved children's classic tells the story of a prosperous Edwardian family ‘The Waterbury’s’. Charles Waterbury (husband and father) is imprisoned on false charges of selling state secrets.  As a result, his wife and their three children are forced to move North to a small village called Oakworth where they take up residence in a house called ‘Three Chimney’s’ which is located near to the village railway station.  This is a story that never fails to bewitch audiences and takes us back to simpler times and celebrates ‘family’, ‘community’ and the ‘power of love and hope’.

Kenny says of his remarkably faithful adaptation, 'You don't need a real train to perform this play. The most powerful prop is the imagination of the audience and the most effective tool is the skill of the actors!  Mike Kenny's version of The Railway Children was first staged at the National Railway Museum in York in 2008 before receiving a major production at Waterloo Station in London in 2010.

There is no doubt that the success of this play relies on the characters and their relationships which must be established quickly and there was little doubt that this was achieved and more by the Wigan Little Theatre Group... credit for the great casting, creation of the characters and their relationships has to go to Lauren Brown (Director) directing her first play in Wigan Little Theatre's Main Season... well done Lauren - be proud!

The play is told through the ‘memories’ of ‘Roberta’ (Deryn Ashton), ‘Peter’ (Jack Samson) and ‘Phyllis’ (Faith Hurst) who ‘reminisce’ about their past by either addressing the audience directly or by squabbling like the ‘Railway Children’ they were.

‘Roberta’ was played wonderfully well by Deryn Ashton, the eldest of the three siblings. Kind and thoughtful to everyone she meets, including strangers; Deryn was a perfect fit for this part.  Confident, great stage presence, great diction...be proud young lady.

‘Peter’ - the middle child was played wonderfully well by Jack Samson.  Intelligent, sharp witted wants to become an ‘engineer’, it was his idea how to ‘stop the train’.  Jack made this part his own, confident, great characterisation, facial expressions aplenty and again great diction.  Well done, young man.

‘Phyllis’, the youngest child, was again played wonderfully well by Faith Hurst and was, for me, the ‘stand-out performance’ of the night. She looked totally comfortable in this role, confident, never out of character, great characterisation, stage presence a plenty and another with great diction....be ever so proud Faith!

Their ‘Mother’ was played ever so well by Emma Appleton. A proud, devoted, resourceful mother who is willing to help anyone and when Mr Waterbury is imprisoned starts to write again to ensure food is put on the table. Emma was the perfect fit for this role. Again, great stage presence, great diction, the empathy shown toward the children was believable.  Richard Holme doubled up as the ‘Father’ and the ‘Doctor’, two parts that he played very well.  It’s sometimes difficult to play ‘two roles’ both of which are integral to the piece, but Richard did a great job in creating two great individual characters.

‘Mr Perks’, our Station Master, was brought to life wonderfully well by John Dudley.  Perfect for the role, confident, great stage presence... loved his mannerisms, interactions and reactions with the children and his family during his birthday scene...so believable.

Stacey Vernon was another with a dual role – ‘Cook’ and ‘Mrs Viney’ (House Keeper at Three Chimneys). Again, Stacey was able to keep the two characters separate and I particularly enjoyed her interpretation of Mrs Viney...’stage presence aplenty’ and again great diction.   Colin Magenty took on the role of the ‘Old Gent’, a Railway Director who travels on the train and ‘befriends and helps the children’.  Colin created a great character, again great diction, looked totally at ease in this role. Neil Brogan played the part of the dissident Russian, Mr Szezcpansky - another wonderfully well judged performance.

Every member on stage contributed to this great performance – Nicola Reynolds played ‘Maid /Mrs Perks’, David Hill played the ‘Butler/District Judge/Jim’, Eleanor Bonner, Emily Scrutton and Morgan Thompson played the ‘Perk’s Children’

The ‘single set’ was well designed, well constructed and made great use of the available space. The costumes were fabulous, apt and in keeping with the era as were the props adding so much to the overall production ...congratulations to entire Production Team and The Crew for a ‘very slick’ production.

Thank you for inviting my wife and I. We thoroughly enjoyed the show and look forward to seeing other productions in the future.  Once again...congratulations to everyone concerned.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.