The Railway Children - Kings Cross

I read E. Nesbit’s The Railway Children when I was about ten years old and I remember the story being totally gripping. It must have stayed with me all these years too because when Florence and I were invited to the Kings Cross Theatre to see the new stage adaptation I managed to go over most of the story with her prior to attending the theatre.

At having only just turned 5 the play might have been a touch too old for her I thought but then this is the girl I took to see ‘Wicked’ at age 3, who loved it and wants to go again. She is well versed in the theatre so I decided that she simply had to be my guest. I had no idea what to expect really but my Mum told me she thought she’d heard about a real steam train being in it and it sounded good to me.

We attended press night last night and the closer we got to the theatre, a purpose built auditorium at the back of Kings Cross station, the more excited we became. There were ushers all the way from the station clearly wearing red sweat shirts and pointing us in the right direction which is handy as I wouldn’t say it is immediately easy to see. As we rounded the corner to the box office I started to wonder if the play was going to be outside, it certainly felt like we might be when feeling as if we were at the station with a ticket collector advising us to make our way to platform 1. With rain lashing down it did start to worry me slightly too…

I needn’t have been concerned as we were soon in a comfortable and very warm bar area and I realised that the show was indeed going to be inside – phew! We were ushered by another ticket conductor onto our platform and as we took our seat (one of 1000) we realised that they were all down both sides of the stage which was rather more like railway tracks with floating platforms being pushed up and down instead of a train. We could see the people on the opposite platform watching from the other side and then suddenly the actors were amongst us, mingling and making small talk as if we were just waiting for a train with them. It was lovely and very, very exciting. Especially if you are five.

By the time the show started we had already had lots of laughs with the characters, sung happy birthday to a celebrator and marvelled at the set which as I mentioned, is a railway track complete with a bridge at one end and a gate the other. The story started and I was initially a little disappointed that the three children, Bobby, Phyllis and Peter were being played by adults but it all became clear quickly that they were looking back on their time as ‘The Railway Children’ and telling the story as they acted their way through it. I soon forgot they were grown ups and such was their skill, we were totally immersed in their tale.

Florence was captivated and although she already knew the rough outline of the plot I had forgotten quite a few things like the Russian escaped prisoner who ‘Mummy’ takes pity on after their own Daddy has been incarcerated. This turned out to be Florence’s favourite part of the story and we were both on the edge of our seat as it went on. It’s a beautiful story with lots of drama and intrigue. I remember turning the pages and not being able to do it fast enough when I read the book and the exact same feeling is given when watching the play. We loved being in the audience which at times was a part of the story and a small amount of participation as well as some words directly to us was a very lovely touch without a whiff of panto which is hard to achieve I think. The Railway Children at Kings Cross comes highly recommended from us and yes, 5 is a little young but certainly not TOO young; a few things probably went over her head but Florence thought it was utterly brilliant and as for the wow factor… Well!

Of course the steam train was very impressive, I mean it’s a REAL steam train and it chugs into the theatre, right in the middle of everything but… The whole production was SO clever. I loved how the stage was being moved up and down the middle of the train tracks and it meant everyone got to see but the most brilliant scene when it comes to clever set design was the one where they find Jim stuck in the tunnel. I won’t ruin it for you but imagine trying to make three children go into a dark tunnel in a stage production and making it look 100% as if they actually were walking down a dark tunnel. Imagine it being absolutely perfectly believable… Hard isn’t it! Well see the show and then you’ll see how!

By the time Bobby shouted ‘Daddy, MY Daddy’ at the end there were tears in everyone’s eyes and we came away with the most massive smiles on our faces. We loved it, every single second and it’s also worth noting that unlike most London stage shows for children that the merchandise won’t break the bank. £3 for a flag seemed about right to us, we didn’t feel ripped off and we absolutely bought one. This is a show to remember!