There’ll be plenty to capture the imagination as acting for stage and screen students from Stockton Riverside College bring their summer performance of The Railway Children to a more than fitting venue.
It will be full steam ahead for the up-and-coming young actors who are recreating the family classic at Locomotion railway museum in Shildon.
Performing to a traverse audience, with the audience watching from two sides, director and performing arts course leader, Tom Guest said: “This will certainly be a new challenge for the students, but it will teach them so much about the demands of touring theatre.”
As for the props, well, they don’t come much better than a collection of more than 50 historic rail vehicles to help bring the much-loved story to life.
With a nod to the bicentenary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, Tom explained: “We chose The Railway Children because it is a literary novel adaptation and also a lovely family show that ties in with what is a milestone celebratory year in the history of the railway.”
And when it came to picking a venue, with his own links to the museum as a former visitor service assistant, he knew this was the place.
Tom said: “For the students it is great to perform at a wide variety of venues, but to perform in front of a steam train, that’s something else.”
With a cast of around 30 students, the play tells the story of three children and their mother who are forced to leave behind their luxury family home in London when their father is falsely arrested on suspicion of being a spy. Relocating to the countryside the children must come to terms with their much-changed impoverished circumstances and find a new way of life, buoyed by watching the people and the trains on the nearby railway line.
Stockton Riverside College acting for stage and screen student Charlie, 18, from Egglescliffe, said: “Performing our piece in the museum is a way for the show to feel authentic and meaningful. It will definitely help bring the story to life as our backdrop is a real train, which is amazing and one of the best pieces of set you can ask for.”
Fellow student, Noah, 18, from East Durham, added: "Performing in a museum just gives the show so much more depth. Having the audience at either side of us makes it so much more immersive. The audience should expect some really big moments that are so heartfelt and some amazing creative decisions."
Of hosting the show in Shildon, Locomotion operations and events manager Pam Porter said: “We have hosted plays at the museum before, but not for a very long time, so it’s fantastic to be able to do so during this historic year for the railways. We hope it will be a magical and memorable occasion.
“The play is taking place at the front of our main hall, which includes over 50 historic rail vehicles, from the pioneering prototype Deltic to British Rail’s experimental Advanced Passenger Train.
“Each vehicle offers a unique insight into the ways railways have influenced and transformed our past. For this play to be performed in the shadow of these incredible engines will create an unmissable atmosphere and evoke a real feeling of nostalgia.”
As well as attracting family, friends and regular visitors of the college and the museum, it is hoped the show will bring in new visitors of all ages to enjoy the museum for the first time.
The Railway Children will be performed by Stockton Riverside College’s acting for stage and screen students at Locomotion, Shildon, on Wednesday 4 and Thursday 5 June, at 7pm. Tickets are £10, available from: www.ticketsource.co.uk/src
