The Railway Children Pulls into the Tabard with Aplomb
Susan Stanley-Carroll rates production as a mini-masterpiece
A charming, meticulously directed production. Picture: Matt Hunter
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October 27, 2025
Once upon a time a steam engine belching smut filled smoke roared through Turnham Green Station. Today another steam engine has roared into the Theatre in the Tabard creating a heartwarming, authentic drama based on the 1906 novel ‘The Railway Children’ by E. Nesbit.
Simon Reilly, Sarah Riley (Directors) and Louise Haddington (Theatrical Adaptor) have produced a theatrical mini-masterpiece that will be enjoyed by audiences of all ages.
The opening moment is memorable: steam, sound, music, and lights swirl together to create the unforgettable atmosphere of Oaksworth Railway station in Yorkshire. Mrs Waterbury and her three children have just moved there from London. She is impoverished but earns “a bob or two” writing stories for magazines that will buy them food for the table if not coal for the fire. Mr. Waterbury has been falsely accused of treason and sent to prison.
Their three children resolve to be kind, courageous and supportive. Emma Rowe (Bobby), Anya Burlton (Phyllis) and Max Pascoe (Peter) are exceptionally talented actors and are a loveable, bouncy trio. Bobby is super thoughtful; Phyllis super mischievous; Peter the super brave middle child and the only boy ‘to boot’.
They are befriended by the charismatic Mr. Perks (Jay Dolphin) the station manager: he is goodness personified but can be tetchy if the children tamper with his pride.
The mother is a remarkable woman, very much like E Nesbit; she is empathetically played with warmth and spirit by Kirsten Shaw.
The versatile Christopher Laishley spins from the Old Gentleman, to the Doctor, to Mr. Szczepanksky (a character based on a Russian journalist who lived in Bedford Park circa 1885), and finally to Mr. Waterbury, the father. Christopher is, to his finger tips, a consummate actor and performs each roll with aplomb.
One of the many visually stunning moments in this production is the arrival of the great steam engine. Extraordinary! I almost turned round to look, as it poured mounds of puffy smoke into the auditorium and its deafening raucous roar seemed very close, almost too close, to my neck. Rattling and puffing and gasping and clanging towards Oaksworth Station.
Astonishing! The Mighty Engine screeched to a STOP! The message from the robustly waved red petticoat flags had been understood. A glorious and brilliant moment of theatrical achievement by the Tabard team and, oh so, deftly co-ordinated by Simon Reilly.
Emma Rowe (Bobby), Anya Burlton (Phyllis) and Max Pascoe (Peter) play the children. Picture: Matt Hunter
My, oh my, the exceptional, innovative work from the back-stage team for this production is phenomenal: Rob Miles for his flexible, authentic charming Set Design, Nat Green’s atmospheric lighting, and Nick Gilbert’s magnificent sound effects that are above and beyond the norm.
Alice McNicholas’s late Victorian costume designs added yet more veracity to the whole production N.B.- Alice’s eagle eye will have swooped on anything worn by the cast that was anachronistic, not a tracker device on a wrist, nor a humble tissue tucked up a sleeve.
Please do grab your tickets for this charming, meticulously directed production of ‘The Railway Children’. You may need a tissue or two or you may sniff out a twentieth century handkerchief! Warning: tears flowed frequently on the Press Night.
2025 draws to a close for Simon and Sarah Reilly and it has been a sensational year concluding with the coveted award PUB THEATRE OF THE YEAR 2025…earned the hard way with oodles of courage, tins of elbow grease, and lashings of determination.Susan Stanley-Carroll
For booking and further details, visit the Tabard Theatre website or contact the box office directly.
Performances will take place at Theatre at the Tabard, 2 Bath Road, W4 1LW.
Tabard Named as London Pub Theatre of the Year
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