The Railway Children: A Musical

This was a NODA North premiere of the musical adaptation by Julian Woolford and Richard John of The Railway Children: A Musical which is based on the popular heart-warming children’s novel written in 1906 by E. Nesbit. It tells the story of a family thrown into a completely different lifestyle when their father is taken away and they are forced to move from London to the remote Yorkshire countryside. The story was made into a classic film in 1970 starring Bernard Cribbins as Mr Perks and Jenny Agutter as Bobby. 

Watching this musical presentation by Chester le Street Theatre Group was like receiving a warm hug of nostalgia. It was cleverly staged in traverse style with the central performance area used for the majority of the action, the station being set on the stage area and a tunnel represented at the opposite end of the hall. The stage crew, under the leadership of Alison Holmes, ensured the many scene changes were swift and virtually silent. The set was built by members including major piece of set construction which was the steam train that immerged from the tunnel for a spectacular end to act one. The effect was excellent and congratulations to Gary Saunders for its design and construction and to the technical team for the overall result. The sound was good throughout provided by Terry Caine and Anthony Heslop and the lighting plot by Paul Oliver perfectly complimented the production with seamless lighting transitions following the action and providing great atmosphere.  The musical accompaniment was provided by a five piece band under the direction of the talented Chinami Smith.

The story opened with Perks the Stationmaster setting the scene and providing a narration to the story, Gary Saunders gave an assured performance of this amiable character; Keith Hewison portrayed the “Old Gentleman” and was every bit the distinguished Edwardian gentleman, these two characters provided strong musical links throughout the story. The opening company number was set at Christmastime and we were introduced to the many character roles which were all well played by a strong company of both adults and children, each bringing their individual characters to life. Amongst the many characters Gary Eglinton as exile Mr Szczepansky spoke and sang the Russian language with conviction and Clark Adamson gave Dr Forrest a comedic and likable character.

The children in this production were excellent, they acted and sang with confidence especially being in such close proximity to their audience. The scene with Perk’s children played by Rickie Mullen, Eleanor Adamson, Cara Moody and Amelia Savory was very good, it had great energy. “The family” all gave strong performances, Alex Rochester as Peter was endearing as the young boy forced to take on more responsibility, Isla Scott as Phyllis had just the right amount of naïve charm and Caisley Graham portrayed the role of the caring older sister Bobbie with compassion and lovely vocal performances. Anya Siou as Mother was perfect in this role, not only singing well, “Till the day” was especially beautiful, she acted with a maturity which was way beyond her young age. The happy conclusion to the story was very moving as the family were again reunited with their father. 

This production marks the end of an era as Julie Dryden has decided to take a step back as regular director for the group but what a show to end on, it was innovatively directed throughout and its sentiment was certainly one of love.  Congratulations to Julie, Catherine and their production team for presenting an absolutely delightful show. 

Enjoy your retirement Julie but I know we will still see you supporting your group in other ways at future productions.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.