Jeremy Swift will play Mr Perks and Caroline Harker will be recreating the role of Mother in the Olivier Award-winning production of Mike Kenny’s stage adaptation of E. Nesbit’s novel The Railway Children when it returns to London on 16 December 2014 in its new home, the King’s Cross Theatre.
The Railway Children tells the story of Bobbie, 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 with their mother, where they befriend the local railway porter, Perks, and embark on a magical journey of discovery, friendship and adventure. But the mystery remains – where is Father, and is he ever coming back?
Jeremy Swift can currently be seen starring as Maggie Smith’s butler, Spratt, in Downton Abbey, and he will return to the small screen in January in the new series of Foyle’s War, playing the regular role of Glenvil Harris.
Caroline Harker was in the original cast of The Railway Children as Mother at Waterloo Station in 2010. On screen, she was WPC Hazel Wallace in A Touch of Frost and Vicky in the BBC series Holding On.
Also in the cast will be Louise Calf as Phyllis, Clare Corbett as Mrs Perks, Jack Hardwick as Peter, Mark Hawkins as Jim/District Super, Connie Hyde as Mrs Viney, Andrew Loudon as Father/Doctor, Serena Manteghi as Bobbie, Blair Plant as Schepansky and Moray Treadwell as the Old Gentleman, plus a children’s ensemble made up of four teams of ten children aged between 9 and 15.
A purpose built 1,000-seat theatre, complete with a railway track and platforms, and with a state of the art heating system, will be specially created on the site on King’s Boulevard, behind King’s Cross Station, which has been loaned to the production for the duration of the run by Google. The York Theatre Royal production, which is in association with the National Railway Museum, will once again feature a live steam locomotive and a vintage carriage, originally built in 1896.
The production at King’s Cross Theatre is in support of the Railway Children Charity that aims to help homeless and runaway children throughout the world, with £1 per ticket donated to the charity.
BOOK NOW FOR THE RAILWAY CHILDREN
Photos by Johan Persson.
