
The Railway Children review – a real steam train is the spectacular star
Inside the shed, the impressive stagecraft arrests the senses over the story of Roberta (Farah Ashraf), Peter (Raj Digva) and Phyllis (Jessica Kaur), the children forced out of their well-to-do London home and into a shambling house by the tracks in Yorkshire, after their father (Paul Hawkyard) is wrongly imprisoned.
They take to waving at passengers on the Green Dragon, an invisible locomotive here conjured through a wonderful concoction of steam, sounds (designed by Craig Vear) and crackles of light (designed by Richard G Jones). That is, until a real-life steam train enters the auditorium – a sight to behold.
Scenes on Joanna Scotcher's stupendous set design are deftly executed on mobile platforms. It gives the period dress production a heady sense of motion as the children take off on their adventures. But for all these excitements, it is initially too tame in its storytelling and anodyne in its emotional drama. A framing device in which adult versions of Roberta, Peter and Phyllis reflect back on their childhood selves, and enact the story in retrospect, feels under-used.
Conceived and directed by Damian Cruden, the children are Anglo-Indian; their father met their mother (Asha Kingsley) in the British Raj. It is an interesting twist, rather like that in last year's production of The Secret Garden. But little is done with this introduced theme of imperialism and mixed heritage identity beyond the cosmetic: Mother wears an ethnic shawl; one of the children dreams of having an elephant.
The siblings speak in cheery tones and appear more like a reduced version of the Famous Five than young people trying to turn their pain into resilience. It is all a little chocolate-box – a quintessential, idealised version of Englishness.
Thankfully, it is brought back on track after the interval. The humour sparks alive and there are charming meta flourishes to the siblings' memories.
'You'll have to use your imaginations for this part,' Roberta implores us at one point, and later we become the waving strangers on the train. It shines in these collaborative moments. The emotional life of the play gains weight, too, however schmaltzy the story may be. By the time the final scene comes round, with Father's return, this show has become irresistible.
At Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, until 7 September.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Hundreds join Wuthering Heights tribute on Brontë moors
Hundreds of Kate Bush fans have danced on the Yorkshire moors which inspired the novel - and the song - Wuthering Heights. The event was one of several held across the world on 27 July each year, as people dressed in red to recreate the video to Bush's 1978 event in Haworth was a joint celebration of the singer and the writer Emily Brontë held on Penistone Hill, not far from the famous Brontë Clare Shaw said she was "absolutely delighted by the scale, nature and success of the event", with people coming from the United States and Italy. Ms Shaw set up the event as she wanted to celebrate Bush and Brontë's cultural heritage, but also to highlight local objections to a planned windfarm development in the area. Walshaw Moor, an area near Top Withens - believed to be Brontë's inspiration for the Wuthering Heights farmhouse - is earmarked as the site of 41 turbines planned by Calderdale Energy Park. The company's first consultation on the project ended on 10 Shaw said she supported green energy, but not "in a really important ecological and cultural site".Calderdale Energy Park previously said the scheme "presents a key opportunity to support the government's target to achieve at least 95% of low carbon energy generation by 2030". The event also raised more than £2,000 for a domestic abuse charity, the Women's Aid Federation Of England. It was co-hosted by Happy Valley Pride, the Calder Valley LGBTQ+ after the event, many of those who took part commented on what a fantastic day they had, said organisers. A similar event was held in Birmingham on Saturday, organised by The Heath Bookshop in King's of those to attend was Home Office minister and Birmingham Yardley MP Jess have previously taken place in locations such as Sydney, Copenhagen, Berlin, Folkestone, and Preston. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.


BBC News
7 hours ago
- BBC News
Voices of Bradford women to be used for bus announcements
The voices of three women from Bradford will be used for announcements on board the city's bus Kaali, Humaira Bham and Olivia Wright won the BBC's New Voices Bradford competition in May 2024Their pre-recorded information about routes and stops will be used by First buses during the UK City of Culture year. Ms Kaali said: "I'm really hoping that people will leave this year thinking, wow, we are just as valued, just as special, just as exciting and have so much to offer." Ms Bham added: "I remember going to university and hearing some southern woman doing announcements on the bus, so its going to be really cool to hear a Bradfordian accent."The recordings were made in the BBC Radio Leeds studios. A total of 160 buses working on 35 routes will use operations director for West Yorkshire, Megan Hope, said: "The local accents give a genuine Bradford and Yorkshire touch to the announcements, which is a real change from the AI technology we normally use." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.


Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Our Yorkshire Farm star Amanda Owen is supported by fans as she shares 'tragic' update
Our Yorkshire Farm star Amanda Owen has received heartwarming support from fans after she shared a 'tragic' update on social media. The mother-of-nine was the face of the Channel 5 series alongside her now ex-husband Clive, with the cameras following their busy lives raising both children and livestock. Now, the 50-year-old is 'incensed and angered' at a shocking act of vandalism she discovered while walking through her beloved stretch of Yorkshire countryside. Underneath a video shared with her 534,000 Instagram followers, the presenter wrote: 'Cross, cross, cross. This is not the normal kind of post I do, not the kind of post that I want to do. 'I know that it will not make any difference whatsoever but still I hope that someone, somewhere, might feel a little uncomfortable or even ashamed. 'These places are invaluable, a part of our history and heritage, they do not formally belong to anyone but have been used for centuries by shepherds, farmers and commoners. They are still in use to this day.' Amanda filmed herself speaking angrily, devastated at the scale of the destruction. 'This is not the kind of thing that I would normally be reckoning to put on social media,' she said. 'But this has incensed and angered me so enormously. 'No, not a gap in the wall,' Amanda said, gesturing to a crumbling stone wall. 'That happens, and that can be remedied. I'm talking about this.' Pointing towards what appears to be torn up stone slabs in the ground, Amanda says: 'You might ask yourself, 'What has happened there?' I'll tell you what has happened there. 'At some point in the last couple of days, probably in the middle of the night, somebody has come to these pens on the border between Cumbria and Yorkshire, and they have come into these beautiful pens that have stood here for centuries. 'And they have dug up and taken the flags out of the floor. Can you imagine, this floor has stood the test of time. It has been here for hundreds of years.' Amanda stressed that the site was one of great historical importance and remains in use to this day. 'This isn't a place that isn't used,' she continued. 'This is a place that has got history.' 'Look. See the beautiful cobbles, see how this is maintained and looked after. This is a little building where the shepherds and farmers in our area actually bring our sheep, when we've gathered them in and actually worked in them and put strays in here. 'But at some point over the last couple of days, somebody has taken it upon themselves to desecrate it, whether they had a job for these flags or whether they just got them because they thought nobody was using this place. 'I think that absolutely stinks, it's our heritage, it's an ancient, ancient place, and I don't see that there's any need to do that kind of thing.' Avid fans were furious and flocked to the comments to express their shock and sympathy. One person wrote: 'That is just so tragic! No respect for things anymore. I'm so very sorry to see this.' Another echoed the sentiment, writing: 'People just don't care anymore, they think they are entitled to do and take whatever they want. It really boils my blood!' Avid fans were furious and flocked to the comments to express their shock and sympathy 'Rightly done to bring this desecration to people's attention! You are a protector and custodian of the countryside,' said a third. Many commenters suggested the incident was reflective of an overall decline of respect for others, with one writing: 'Absolutely deplorable behaviour. 'Sadly, it seems to be the growing nature of society in Britain. Fewer and fewer people have respect for other people's property or even other people! 'It saddens me to the core to see the very fabric of British society disintegrating. The culprits get off scot-free, because there appears to be no law to apprehend them! I despair!'