THE RAILWAY CHILDREN THEATRE REVIEW (Kings Cross Theatre)

Hello my lovely reader and fellow bloggers, 

So.. I've been a little flaky with my blog recently as I've been so busy finishing up my third year at Central, but today I finally handed in my dissertation, so I can return to blogging about all the things I love 'theatre and acting'. 

On Sunday evening I went to see a performance of The Railway Children at Kings Cross Theatre in London  The show is primarily aimed at children and family audiences. I've seen other theatre companies recreate this well known story but none quite like this. The moment I walked up to the theatre I instantly felt immersed in the exciting story. The theatre had been completely transformed into an old style railway. From the moment I walked through the doors I was transported to a waiting room in an underground railway complete with station platforms and ushers dressed as railway staff. Even the stairs approaching the theatre were designed to act as a railway tunnel compete with lights and passenger notices on the walls. 

From my first step into the theatre I instantly became aware of the Brechtian style performance, which I was not too thrilled about at first. The seats were set out on opposite sides of the room whilst, the performance space was position in the centre. The actors entered the stage, interacting with the audience, talking to all the children before the performance was ready to start. At one point the the actors stood around the stage and sang happy birthday to a little girl in the audience, which really touched me. I've never really been a huge fan of interactive theatre (hence the reason I  am not really a Brecht fan) but this performance was different. I appreciate an immersive setting, however, I often do not like when actors interact and speak directly to audience members as I feel this can take away from the story. I know many drama lovers may not agree with me here, however, I prefer the audience to stay spectators rather than being part of the performance or as Augusto Boal states 'spect-actors'. The reason I feel strongly about this is as an actor I am very interested in 'realistic acting' which is why I am better acquainted with techniques from Constantin Stanislavski. This being said, I do think that regardless of my preference, the performance style worked well for the specific audience. 

Moving on from the style of performance, I was astounded by the incredible visual effects and props that was used to recreate a railway. I was particularly fascinated by authentic steam train that was used throughout the performance.  For anyone that is thinking of seeing The Railway Children, I wont ruin the surprise but, I can definitely say that you will not be disappointed effects in this piece. It is probably one of the most original and creative sets I have seen and I've seen a lot. Along with the set, I was very much inspired by the quality of acting. Actress Megan Pitt playing the role of older sister and lead role Bobby was fantastic. It was not until after the show that I realised she was the understudy, but nevertheless, I think her acting technique was faultless. She brought realism and charisma to the character and her performance really was a pleasure to watch. I was a little less keen on the techniques used by actress Louise Calf, playing the lead role and youngest sister Phyllis. She is an adult actor playing the role of a young child, and although I thought her physicality was flawless, I did think she over played her child like qualities a little, which took away the realism and belief of the character. Throughout the performance the characters used Brechtian techniques to constantly remind the audience that they watching a performance. On many occasions the actors would say 'for this part you need to use your imagination' (Pitt, 2015) and just before the interval the actor playing Phyllis said 'go get yourself an ice cream, whilst we clean up this mess' (Calf, 2015) however, all these comments were made in character.

The performance overall was of an extremely high quality and I was very impressed. Even through my dislike of Brechtian techniques I feel that they should receive a massive 4 1/2 stars for the magical experience. 

If you have any children or are just a fan of theatre, I would a hundred percent recommend you go to see this performance. You will not be disappointed!!

(Source: atgtickets.com)