Theatre News

Cast: Jeremy Swift and Caroline Harker lead Railway Children and South Bank's Grimm Tales

Damian Cruden’s ”Railway Children” opens at King’s Cross Theatre while ”Grimm Tales from Young and Old” runs at the Bargehouse on the South Bank

Jeremy Swift
Jeremy Swift

Jeremy Swift and Caroline Harker will lead the cast of The Railway Children at King's Cross Theatre, which opens next month.

Based on Edith Nesbit's original 1906 novel, the stage adaptation has spurred two sold-out seasons in 2008 and 2009 at the York Theatre Royal at the National Railway Museum. The production also opened at Waterloo Station in July 2010 and had two runs.

Jeremy Swift (Downton Abbey) will star as Mr. Perks. His previous stage credits include Sir Wilful Witwoud in The Way of the World at Chichester and Lawrence in Abigail’s Party at Hampstead and in the West End. He will be joined by Caroline Harker, who will reprise her role as the Mother from the original 2010 production at Waterloo Station. Her recent theatre credits include Mrs. Gardiner in Pride and Prejudice at the Open Air Theatre and Liz Essendine in the national tour of Present Laughter.

The upcoming revival will be directed by Damian Cruden, who is the current artistic director of the York Theatre Royal. Other casting includes Louise Calf, Clare Corbett, Jack Hardwick, Mark Hawkins, Connie Hyde, Andrew Loudon, Serena Manteghi, Blair Plant and Moray Treadwell. There is also a children’s ensemble of 40 children.

Railway Children will open on 16 December 2014 and is currently booking until 1 March 2015 at the King's Cross Theatre.


Full casting has also been announced for the upcoming Philip Pullman's Grimm Tales for the Young and the Old opening at the Bargehouse on the South Bank this month.

The cast features John Seaward (The Inbetweeners, Uncle Vanya), Morag Cross (No Room On The Broom, Romeo and Juliet), Leda Hodgson (A Doll’s House) and Amanda Gordon (The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui). Sabina Arthur, James Byng and Paul Clerkin will all return after participating in Grimm Tales’ successful run at Shoreditch Town Hall earlier this year.

The rest of the cast comprises Kate Adler, Richard Mark, Nessa Matthews, Anthony Ofoegbu, Maria Okaminwa , Joel Robinson, Megan Slater, Johnson Willis and Robert Willoughby.

Grimm Tales will open on 21 November 2014 and run until 15 February 2015 at the Bargehouse on the South Bank in London.