The Railway Children **** TNT

Unlike my more knowledgeable companion, I’d neither seen the 1970 film nor read E. Nesbit’s classic 1906 children’s book, but we were equally entranced by Mike Kenny’s adaptation for York Theatre Royal which steams into the disused Eurostar terminal at Waterloo Station.

Seated on either side of the tracks, we follow the fortunes of a wealthy Edwardian family, forced to downsize to rural Yorkshire when the head of the family is falsely imprisoned. It’s a heart-warming tale of adventures, rescues and good Samaritans aplenty, endearingly enacted by Sarah Quintrell, Louisa Clein and Nicholas Bishop as the three plucky children.

And a special mention, too, for the hard-working stagehands, shunting the sets smoothly along between the platforms to make way for the glorious arrival of the impressively puffing 1870 Stirling Single locomotive.

Waterloo Station (0871 297 0740) Tube: Waterloo www.railwaychildrenwaterloo.com Till 2 Jan 2011

£20.50 -£45.50