'The Railway Children' at Waterloo

[John Ashworth]

Connor on the right lines in The Railway Children

By Caroline Cook
getreading December 28, 2011

When you walk into Waterloo railway station the thing that hits you is the energy and buzz of people rushing left and right, heading into the city to be dazzled by the excitement and the lights.

But if you stand in the concourse and close your eyes the thing you can really hear is the trains.

The whirring and the chimes of automatic door bells, the chugging as they come soaring down the railway line and the hissing as they grind to a halt on the platforms.

And that is precisely why there really is nowhere more perfect for the acclaimed York Theatre Royal production of The Railway Children to be stationed for the winter – or for one Sonning schoolboy to make his West End debut.

Coming from a theatrical family, Reading Blue Coat School pupil Connor Garnett-Comerford has joined the stage like a train to the tracks, having been given the role of Fred in the Olivier award-winning production.

The Railway Children has made its way to London for the Christmas season, transforming the former Eurostar terminal of Waterloo Station into a 1,000 seat venue with a set which could rival some of the best in the business.

The audience walk into the old terminal, cleverly converted into a theatre box office, and follow directions on their tickets which lead them to platform one or two, sitting either side of the track where the classic children’s tale is played out.

A bridge crosses overhead and the engineering is incredible as cast members glide down the tracks on moving platforms as they tell the story.

And what a story it is. Adults in the audience will remember the Edith Nesbitt creation from their own childhoods while the show is guaranteed to win a whole new legion of fans with its Victorian tale of the Waterbury family.

When Father is taken away and – unbeknownst to the children, imprisoned – the family relocate to the Three Chimneys in Yorkshire where the children, Roberta (Amy Noble), Peter (Tim Lewis) and Phyllis (Grace Rowe) take to looking out for trains on the railway.

Phyllis is absolutely charming with her youthful naivety prompting plenty of laughs from the audience and it is a clever move from director Damian Cruden who has chosen adult actors to play the children looking back over their adventures.

All three fit wonderfully into their roles as innocent, wide-eyed youngsters, quarrelling and joking as siblings do alongside Mother (Pandora Clifford) who really tugs on the heart-strings as she tries to keep her family going.

With much of the country living in times of austerity there is something more appropriate than ever about the tale of a downtrodden family making ends meet and there are moments which parallel today as much as post-Victorian England.

The story, of course, is delightfully charming and could create a heart-warming production on its own, but the thing that takes The Railway Children above and beyond the traditional family show is the stagecraft.

The production team has gone all-out with an incredible use of lights, steam and sounds to make you feel as if you are actually sitting beside a live, old-fashioned steam railway.

When the train pulls in and the children stand waving their red petticoats for the well-known scene you can see the steam clatter down the railway towards them and hear the horn whistling in the air and your heart begins to double the speed.

And that is even before the real train arrives. You know it’s coming but when the vintage steam engine – the very one used in the 1970 film of The Railway Children – storms along the tracks in front of you something really magical happens.

You almost forget you are in an old modern terminal in Waterloo and instead you are running alongside the tracks watching out for Mr Perks the station master.

And for Sonning schoolboy Connor the dream is a reality as he plays one of the young supporting cast who mill around the stage as passengers coming to and fro on the railway.

The Year Ten pupil is no stranger to the limelight having been accidentally cast as the lead in Oliver for an amateur production in Maidenhead when he thought he was going for a cast role.

From there his career snowballed with performances in television shows Poirot and Waking the Dead, as well as radio productions.

Having joined The Railway Children in June and with three shows in every nine Connor is living the dream on stage – but still finding time to keep up with his studies.

“The teachers are being really helpful and understanding,” he explains. “And I’m managing to do the same amount of work as everyone else and catching up with my homework between shows.”

The youngster is getting well-versed in the showbiz world mixing with the stars when he played playing a young Kenneth Williams opposite Michael Sheen in the BBC biographical production of Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!

“It seemed scary before I got there,” says Connor. “But they were very comforting and supportive and it was all done in only three takes for most scenes.”

“It’s harder to watch television though after being in a television show because it takes away the magic, especially when you’re in it.

“It’s hard to watch yourself, you become really critical of everything you do.”

But the 14-year-old is having a ball aboard The Railway Children with the magic of the children’s book translating easily from book to stage.

With its unique setting and the ingenuity of a truly brilliant production team the show really is one not to be missed.

- The Railway Children is at Waterloo Station Theatre until Sunday, January 8. Prices start from £22.75 and all tickets include a 50p charity donation and 50p venue development levy. To book call the box office on 0871 297 0740 or log on to www.railwaychildrenwaterloo.com.