Signal Box Theatre, York – 5 August 2015. Reviewed by Marcus Richardson
Where to start on perfection? The Railway Children, returning for the first time to the city of York since 2008 when it premièred with great critical acclaim, screeched success as I immersed myself in the land that was Yorkshire. With the York Theatre Royal being in the dark you would expect it to be dead, but it has never been more alive as the performance was held at the National Railway Museum which ties in with the play for obvious reasons.
I watched the performance like a gawping child staring at the steam engines passing by like a “dragon”. The story-telling piece of theatre ticked all the boxes. I was completely drawn in by the narration from all three of the children: Phyllis (Beth Lily), the youngest of the trio; Bobby (Rozzi Nicholson), the oldest and most responsible; and Peter (Izaak Cainer), the man of the family while his father is away. As the audience we saw through their eyes the recollection of the summer when they were the Railway Children. This offered a large amount of comedy as the children’s view was naïve which softened the very dark events that happen in the play.
The staging gave the performance everything it needed whilst also giving the unique and creative aspect I would expect from York Theatre Royal. The staging was transverse holding a real train track centre stage which had a guest appearance of one of the trains being held at the National Railway Museum, blowing the whole audience away with the impressive size of the locomotive. The stage used platforms on the rail tracks to make for effective scene changes. There were few props on stage. However, scenes were clearly shown with a table with the addition of some smaller props on the table depending on the scene.
The acting was impeccable and I couldn’t fault the trio of adult actors who played the young heroes of the railway. When I saw the play, the famous Berwick Kaler was supposed to play the Old Gentleman. However, due to him being ill, the understudy had to step up to the job and by jove he did it. The cast worked together to create the community one would expect from a Yorkshire village. The characters were altered by the children’s views. This made for a very comical scene where one character’s dialogue was made up of ‘Blah Blah Blah’.
The play has to be the best I have ever seen, beating my all time favourite by far. I would definitely encourage anyone to see anything that York Theatre Royal produce