For Mother’s Day, after spending the morning at the soccer pitch, I spent the afternoon with my mother at the opening of The Railway Children. They’ve built a brand new theatre at the base of the CN Tower for the show, and when you walk in, it’s a total sensory experience: the sounds, smells and smoke along with performers on deck rallying the audience by cheekily asking us to “play a game in true Edwardian tradition called The Wave.”
Since my son reviewed the Lion King, I thought it would be interesting to go to the other end of the spectrum and let my mom review this one.
Here’s what she said:
First of all, the author: she was a socialist. You could tell right away. And then when you read the programme, you see that she was a founding Fabian. You know what the Fabian Society was, don’t you? They were the original left wing organization that became the Labour Party in England. So that’s that.
It says so in the programme, but I sort of figured it out.
She pauses briefly as she thinks about the performance.
They do an awful lot of running around in the show.
After another moments reflection, she adds:
And the first act was difficult for young children because it was very wordy.
Then she stops and asks: You’re not going to write what I say, are you? You’re not going to quote me or use my name, are you?
Without waiting for me to answer she continued on.
Well, you can say I’m your mom. Anyway, the first act was really very long, but I thought it was very well done. Everything was good. I thought the cast were good, but I’m not a big maven. I thought Roberta was good, and very cute. They were all good.
But I mistook the name of the show, because I thought it was about the kids who were sent away during the Second World War. I didn’t realise it was so much earlier. So I went there with the wrong impression. But this was a children’s book and the writer was definitely an interesting person. She has some interesting comments, like some people are put in jail who shouldn’t be there.
Was there anything in particular that stood out?
Well, the train, of course. Just the fact they could do that is incredible. And I thought in the 2nd act, the scene with the tunnel might be a bit scary for kids.
I thought the audience participation was interesting. For me, I’m an adult, I’m a grandmother, so it’s not much to me, but for kids it would be exciting and great to get them involved. And since it’s based on a children’s book, I think they should read it first.
The Mirvishs told me not to bring my kids because they were under 10.
When I got to the theatre and saw the mini train rides, the popcorn and all the preschoolers there, I’m not going to lie, I was a bit miffed. But after seeing the show, I would have to agree. Take the wee ones to The Lion King, and leave the Railway Children for the older ones.
The Railway Children is on stage in Toronto till October.
All images courtesy Mirvish Productions.