16-07-2025
City of Sanctuary themes in new version of children's classic
THE beloved story of The Railway Children has been re-imagined for Bradford's City of Culture year, with a British-Indian family at the heart of the story.
A special adaptation of Mike Kenny's Olivier award-winning stage production of E Nesbit's children's classic opens next week on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway - the location of the much-loved 1970 film.
Drawing on the story's themes of exile, compassion and kindness, Stand & Be Counted Theatre - an Associate Company of Bradford 2025 - is working with people seeking sanctuary to create a scene-setting audio experience for audiences as they journey to the show on the heritage railway. Audiences will board a steam train at Keighley station before watching the performance in an engine shed at Oxenhope station. The show features a real steam engine.
The children move from wealthy Edwardian London to rural Yorkshire and find hope and friendship on the railway
Stand & Be Counted Theatre - the UK's first Theatre Company of Sanctuary - co-creates work with and for people seeking sanctuary. Bradford, a City of Sanctuary since 2010, also received a designation of Cultural City of Sanctuary this year.
Rosie MacPherson, Artistic Director and Joint CEO of Stand & Be Counted Theatre, says: "The Railway Children is a global story about new beginnings and creating a new home together, with themes that will resonate deeply with people of Bradford as a City of Sanctuary. Our Soap Box Collective, a group for young adults from all over the world who now call Bradford home, have been working hard to create an interactive audio experience to welcome passengers aboard the steam train!"
Says Shanaz Gulzar, Creative Director, Bradford 2025: 'The Railway Children is about a family needing to move to somewhere unfamiliar, children coping with separation from a parent, and how people and places are connected and affected by global events. Our version, while keeping the original story and setting in 1905, is really going to heighten these themes, as our British-Indian family have journeyed even further than before to reach this small Yorkshire village.
'The genius of E Nesbit's novel, and Mike Kenny's adaptation, is to see big themes like exile, separation and unjust imprisonment from the perspective of three children just starting to understand the adult world."
The cast of The Railway Children at Oxenhope Station
Director Damian Cruden adds: 'Bradford is a wonderful example of a city that has welcomed people throughout its history, and this theme of welcome and global connection resonates through The Railway Children."
Noel Hartley, KWVR Business and Operations Manager, says: 'We're delighted to be hosting this fantastic show during this special year. Our railway has been the home of The Railway Children since the 1960s, it's really special for the show to be held where it began on screen."
Paul Crewes, CEO, York Theatre Royal, says: 'We are thrilled to be working with Bradford 2025 on this unique restaging of York Theatre Royal's award-winning production of The Railway Children.
"The beautiful setting of Oxenhope Railway station will be such a wonderful backdrop for this classic story. Joyous, moving and above all, fun, we can't wait for audiences to have another opportunity to see the show as part of Bradford's year as UK City of Culture.'
* The Railway Children is at Keighley and Worth Valley Railway from July 15 to September 7. Visit
