The Railway Children

This was my first visit to see a show by this company.  The venue was familiar to me, being home to another society who also enjoy NODA membership. On arriving at the Box Office we were given a ‘train ticket’ which was punched by one of the authentically costumed front of house personnel, prior to us entering the auditorium.  This set the scene nicely for this adaptation of Edith Nesbit’s much loved children’s classic.

The standing set had been well thought out and included a platform, a waiting room, a bridge and a tunnel entrance from which the prop train would emerge, accompanied by an authentic hiss of steam.  Suitcases and trunks were used to good effect as train seats and items of furniture as required.  

The Westbury family find themselves in straightened circumstances following the wrongful imprisonment of the Father, resulting in Mother and her three children moving from London to a cottage in Yorkshire.  Delightful and very convincing performances from Lucy-Jo Gladstone as Bobbie, Ruby Gladstone as Phyllis and Jack Cook as Peter, with good interaction between their characters. Very well done to all three. Mother was elegantly played by Jess Ricketts, as befits the character and Dan Ricketts was well cast as Father, as well as taking on a couple of supporting roles including that of Szchepansky, a Russian seeking his family.

A good characterisation by Adam Thompson of Mr Perks the porter. His wife Gracie was well played by Becky Vincent, doubling as Ruth, one of the servants, and well done to the five children, Polly (Resham Vadgama), Jenny (Pippa Emery), Bernie (Archie Oddie), Lionel (Austin Stillwell) and Hetty (Ayla Stillwell) all of whom must be congratulated on their contribution to the show.

A strong performance by Jo Gladstone as Mrs Viney and Steve Foster appeared to be perfectly cast as Mr Mervyn, the gentleman on the train, with Gabriel Clapson as his grandson Jim.  Well done to Aston Wood and Noah Stevenson as Horace and Reg, the Cartwrights.

There were a lot of good performances in this production as well as lovely storytelling.  It is just not possible to mention everyone by name but I was certainly not aware of any weak links and felt the whole cast gelled in bringing this lovely production to life. What’s more they looked as though they were really enjoying themselves.  There was some masking on one occasion when all the children were on stage but in the grand scheme of things it was minor.

Costumes were of the period and the Yorkshire accents sounded to me to be very authentic.  Sound was good as were the sound effects and lighting.  I especially liked the floor lighting on stage, indicating the arrival of the express train as it sped through the station.

Scene changes were swift, being carried out by cast as well as appropriately costumed crew and with little or no interruption to the pace.

Congratulations to all involved in this lovely production.

  

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