Like so many commuters, the stars of The Railway Children will be spending more time on train platforms than they expected, but these actors will be delighted about it. The hit show, which is staged in the disused Eurostar terminal at Waterloo, has extended its London run until 2 January 2011.
The critically acclaimed production, an adaptation of E Nesbit’s famous family tale, opened earlier this week and was expected to play until early September, but has proved so popular that producers have already made the decision to extend.
The production transforms the platforms and disused railway track to tell the story of Bobby, Peter and Phyllis, three children whose lives change dramatically when their father is mysteriously taken away. They move from London to a cottage in rural Yorkshire where they befriend the local railway porter and embark on a magical journey of discovery, friendship and adventure.
The show, which stars Life On Mars’s Marshall Lancaster as railway porter Mr Perks, is given a touch of extra pizzazz with the use of a period steam train borrowed from the National Railway Museum and the Gentlemen’s saloon carriage from the famous film adaptation starring Jenny Agutter.
MA