It is a slow chug back into the nostalgic mists of time for Philip Goulding's stage adaptation of this 1953 Ealing comedy about a group of villagers who, finding that their branch line is about to be axed, decide to buy and run the railway themselves.
There is lots of talk of Empire spirit and stiff upper lips, although sitting back in the Queen's plushest seats and thinking of England doesn't make the journey any more interesting. The appeal would largely seem to be to overgrown schoolboys who still cherish their childhood Thomas the Tank Engine collections, and those who still pronounce the word railway as "raoulway".
What pleasure there is to be had from this creaky old story is largely in the second, far superior, half. Even then any smiles that are raised owe most to Bob Carlton's entertaining production that wittily draws attention to the limitations of the stage presentation, in particular the cast's frantic doubling and the difficulties of putting a steam engine on stage. Designer Rodney Ford has come up with some ingenious and fun Blue Peter-style solutions. But this is old-fashioned stuff in which the romance of steam is used to mask reactionary politics in which rich toffs triumph while the low-born but entrepreneurial Vernon Crump, who sees the demise of the railway as a business opportunity, is cast as the villain of the piece. This is old Tory England staring the future in the face and being appalled by what it sees.
There are some nice touches, particularly in the way that the bureaucrat sent to inspect the railway bears a close resemblance to Adolf Hitler, and the way the audience get to help supply the water needed to keep the Thunderbolt steaming. But overall it is a slow train to nowhere.
&#]183; Until September 17. Box office: 01708 443333. Then touring.
