"The play's the thing..."

Have you ever gone to the theatre in a train station? Have you ever watched a play in which one of the props is a real 19th-century steam train on-the-move? Neither had I. At least, not until today.

Anthony recently got tickets for the two of us, Rachel, and his parents to see The Railway Children, performed in the old Eurostar terminal at Waterloo Station. The acting was good, but it was the staging of the production that most impressed us.

The theatre was rectangular in shape, with the walls made of black curtains. A train track ran through the center, with a narrow platform on each side. The audience was seated in ascending rows along both platforms. The acting occurred on the platforms and on wheeled "bridges" that were pushed up or down along the tracks. There were only 10 rows of seats on each side, so everyone in the audience was very close to the action.

The highlight of the whole production was the steam train. Right before the interval, when the children had to use red flannel petticoats to stop the train to prevent an accident, a real 19th-century steam train entered the theatre. It moved about halfway along the track and stopped just in front of the unconscious Bobby. Then they moved it out backwards and it made further appearances in the second act, most noticeably in the scene at the end when the children's father comes back.

The other part of the set design that I really liked was the tunnel. You know, the part where the children have to run into the tunnel to rescue Jim. Two stagehands walked the length of the platforms on either side of the track, pulling after them translucent black curtains reaching all the way to the ceiling. You could see the children through the curtain, but the effect was dark, murky, and very tunnel-like. They made a very convincing train come through the tunnel by means of lighting, sound, and smoke.

The play is running at Waterloo until September. If you get the chance, definitely go see it, if only for the set design...