YOUNG actors worked up a full head of steam as they joined the audience on stage for an immersive version of a classic children’s story.
Staff and students at Barnard Castle School created the platform and track for their rendition of The Railway Children, complete with the infamous landslide.
Students picked their way around their luggage just inches from the audience while moving stages filled the track bed to recreate carriages in a spectacular version of Edith Nesbit’s novel, adapted for film by Lionel Jeffries and stage by Mike Kenny.
Rosalie Archer played the part of Roberta, Barnaby Tiplady played Peter, Amelia Hodges was Phyllis, Jack Haslam was Mr Perks and Martha Sweeney played Mother.
Director Scott Edwards said: “There are few stories as deeply woven into the fabric of British heritage as The Railway Children.
“As we mark 200 years since the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, the world’s first public railway to use steam locomotives, we also celebrate the spirit of progress, resilience and reinvention that has shaped both our region and our production.”
He said the school community lived and worked just a short journey from where George Stephenson’s locomotives first rattled to life. “Our own pupils walk each day past the echoes of Victorian engineering; the railway cottages, the viaducts and the old lines, long reclaimed by grass now,” he said.
“Many of our students’ families still trace connections to the lines that once wove industry and community through County Durham. Indeed, one of our school founders, Benjamin Flounders, was himself one of the original directors of the Darlington-Stockton Railway, further reinforcing our deep connection to this historic event.”
Mike Kenny’s adaptation seeks to capture the way ordinary young people can show extraordinary courage when the world shifts suddenly beneath their feet. The audience witnesses the three children reliving their childhood and the pivotal events of a summer that shaped them into The Railway Children.
Mr Edwards said: “I was delighted with how my vision came together, genuinely suggesting a station platform and actual trains through simple blocking and smoke.
“The greatest challenge was transferring from the rehearsal room to the set, with only five days to get accustomed to the space, the intimacy of the audience and the uncertainty of the moving platforms, and with the Tech Crew very definitely learning on the job.
“In a year when we celebrate the birth of the modern railway, it felt fitting to return to the raw human power that made it all possible, with a team of six ‘drivers’ for the mobile trucks which created the performance space.”
He had high praise for the cast and crew. “Their commitment, creativity and sheer determination powered the show like the firebox of Stephenson’s own locomotives,” he said.
“It was a pleasure to welcome everyone on board and I hope they enjoyed the ride.”
Categories: Barnard Castle School School News
