The Railway Children stage show 15th July - Eden Court, Inverness
Sunday the 16th of July was National Friendship Day which coincided with a trip to see one of my life long friends! We had arranged to go and see a stage show of one of our favourite childhood books which was taking place at Eden Court Theatre on Saturday the 15th of July.
After a little bit of shopping, we headed for dinner and then onto the theatre.
The Railway Children Live is an adapted stage show of E Nesbitt's tale and included an interesting array of theatrical techniques and staging.
The mid cloth was set up to project different still and moving pictures to help set the scene - this included the family at their home in London, the Perks' house and the railway station itself, with moving pictures of steam trains with an added smoke machine offstage to help give some realism to the set.
Two old fashioned levers set up DSL and DSR,used by the cast, proved useful in effectively transitioning each scene and the fast paced scene changes were meaningful for the audience in that it didnt allow for any 'dead time'. During the transitioning of scenes, the character of Mr Perks was used to narrate part of the story to keep the audience in the flow and proved to be a useful focal point which kept them in 'the zone' of the story.
The simple additions of the dining table, the upstairs bedroom which slid on and off from USR and the wooden gate helped to spark the imagery of the layout of 'Three Chimney's cottage' and was used most effectively. The way in which the actors and actresses moved around and defined the stage space also helped to create the picture that this was a house with hallways and not just an open stage.
The scene which stuck out for me in this piece was when one of the children, 'Bobby' took off her red pinafore to alert the oncoming train that there was a tree on the line. I wondered how they would create this iconic scene but with the creative imagery from the use of the projections, moving, electronic, train running along the back cloth and the sound effects of the train finally halting in-front of her with the smoke machine added in for good measure, I thought this was very cleverly done indeed.
The piece had a lot of strong characters who all worked in effortless synchronisation with each other to display some very comedic moments. Phyllis, the youngest of the children within the play, stuck out for me the most, as she demonstrated a very energetic performance which also added to her fantastic use of facial expression and articulation which I think fitted perfect for her role as a small, lively, child.
It was a shame that the theatre wasn't full for this particular piece because I think a lot of people would've enjoyed it - both adults and children. Go and see it if you've got the chance!
_______________________________________________________________
The Railway Children Live is an adapted stage show of E Nesbitt's tale and included an interesting array of theatrical techniques and staging.
The mid cloth was set up to project different still and moving pictures to help set the scene - this included the family at their home in London, the Perks' house and the railway station itself, with moving pictures of steam trains with an added smoke machine offstage to help give some realism to the set.
Two old fashioned levers set up DSL and DSR,used by the cast, proved useful in effectively transitioning each scene and the fast paced scene changes were meaningful for the audience in that it didnt allow for any 'dead time'. During the transitioning of scenes, the character of Mr Perks was used to narrate part of the story to keep the audience in the flow and proved to be a useful focal point which kept them in 'the zone' of the story.
The simple additions of the dining table, the upstairs bedroom which slid on and off from USR and the wooden gate helped to spark the imagery of the layout of 'Three Chimney's cottage' and was used most effectively. The way in which the actors and actresses moved around and defined the stage space also helped to create the picture that this was a house with hallways and not just an open stage.
The scene which stuck out for me in this piece was when one of the children, 'Bobby' took off her red pinafore to alert the oncoming train that there was a tree on the line. I wondered how they would create this iconic scene but with the creative imagery from the use of the projections, moving, electronic, train running along the back cloth and the sound effects of the train finally halting in-front of her with the smoke machine added in for good measure, I thought this was very cleverly done indeed.
The piece had a lot of strong characters who all worked in effortless synchronisation with each other to display some very comedic moments. Phyllis, the youngest of the children within the play, stuck out for me the most, as she demonstrated a very energetic performance which also added to her fantastic use of facial expression and articulation which I think fitted perfect for her role as a small, lively, child.
It was a shame that the theatre wasn't full for this particular piece because I think a lot of people would've enjoyed it - both adults and children. Go and see it if you've got the chance!
_______________________________________________________________
Lots of love
Lauren
xoxo
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