The Railway Children
Keighley & Oxenhope stations, West Yorkshire
★★★★★
 

NOT many theatre audiences get taken by steam train to a purpose-built auditorium inside an engine shed. Then again, up until now, not many audiences have had the chance to see this site-specific revival of The Railway Children.

Staged as part of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, the transport offers more than a wow factor. Teaming up with the Keighly & Worth Valley Railway, the audience gets to experience the journey made by the Green Dragon in the classic 1970 film of E Nesbit’s children’s book.

The train also introduces some of the play’s key themes of community and belonging. Its open carriages encourage people to talk with strangers, and recorded voices in multiple languages offer welcomes and examples of local hospitality. This resonates with Bradford being recognised as a City of Sanctuary.

The mood-boosting journey sets the scene for the story of Bobbi (Farah Ashraf), Peter (Raj Digva) and Phyllis (Jessica Kaur). A wealthy family who are forced to move out of London after their father is wrongly imprisoned for espionage, they embark on a series of adventures and assimilation into their small Yorkshire village.

Adapted by Mike Kenny in 2008 and directed here by Damian Cruden, the script has been updated to feature an Anglo-Indian family. Heritage isn’t explicitly explored beyond the parents meeting in the British Raj and Phyllis’s dreams of owning an elephant. The theme of migration nonetheless has parallels with the family’s move and in their sheltering of Russian exile Mr Szczepansky (Paul Hawkyard). A dissident intellectual, his situation remains as relevant as ever.

More than anything, however, the play is a rip-roaring yarn about kindness and helping people to belong. Its warm heart is perfectly handled by the three children, who humorously spark off one another and the rest of the cast, which includes a large community element.

There are moments of weakness in the play’s pacing but Joanna Scotcher’s set design, which is executed on mobile platforms, and the work of the sound and lighting team means there’s always a moment of spectacle just around the corner. By the time the steam train powers into the auditorium, the gasps of delight are audible.

Drawing the audience into the heart of the action, it’s impossible not to feel a surge of emotional warmth at the play’s ensemble close.

Running until September 7 2025. Tickets bradford2025.co.uk/event/the-railway-children. Special schools ticket rates are available to performances of The Railway Children on September 3, 4, 5.