Adam Penford and Billy Ivory on model railways, model boxes and modern Britain

In a way, theatremakers have a lot in common with those who build model railways.

All are crafting miniature versions of the world, inspecting them up close and evaluating how and why they work the way they do. It’s an interesting concept pointed out to me by Nottingham Playhouse’s artistic director Adam Penford, via designer Soutra Gilmour. Both are working on the world premiere of Billy Ivory’s new play, The Market Deeping Model Railway Club, a stage play recounting the real 2019 events when teenage vandals sabotaged a model railway club’s chances of success at a show.

“I was really moved by the images of the mindless vandalism and the destruction. It really grabbed me.” It grabbed the nation too, before propelling to international news after music legend Rod Stewart pledged a donation of £10,000 towards the cause. Penford says he will always have a seat waiting at Nottingham Playhouse throughout the run.

“It was around that time, I thought this might make a good play, actually.” Penford immediately thought of community-set comedy plays like The Full Monty and Calendar Girls, and knew the right writer for the job was Nottinghamshire’s Ivory, responsible for such titles as Made in Dagenham.

The formula follows a “kind of classic, good night out at the theatre,” where you meet a specific group of people, something happens, and they have to overcome it together.

“With hobbyists, whether it’s knitting or baking, you can, of course, do it at home on your own. But there’s something quite British that draws groups of people together to do it collectively,” Penford says. Ivory calls it sharing a “communal enthusiasm,” explaining, “those who have a love for a thing, or a place or an activity, life isn’t humdrum once they are set before their great passion.”

He continues: “I especially adore the arcane rituals which accompany such heartfelt enthusiasm – the rules, the regulations – the very British way of trying to tame and regiment what is at core an unbridled and untameable obsession.”

Peter Davies, who was the chairman when the attack happened, has worked closely with both the director and the writer, generously lending not only his recollection of the distressing time but also his insider knowledge of modelling to detail the script. “I am always drawn to the rage and passion hidden in modest men,” Ivory starts, “And I felt a great deal of that as soon as I met the members.

“Beyond that, the scenario offered up such a fabulous opportunity to look at Britishness, and what it is, exactly, that defines us – which in this day and age feels extraordinarily relevant.”

The decision was made to avoid direct characterisation of the real folk. “Lincolnshire is a fascinating place because of all the regions, it had the highest Leave contingent in the Brexit vote,” Penford says, “We were quite fascinated by that and the fact that people who build tend to build railways from the past, whether that be the 1860s or 1930s or 1990s, they tend to specialise in a certain era. No one really builds futuristic railways, but you could.”

Penford guesses that this feeling of wanting or needing to recreate the past is linked to sentimentality. “What has been most clear, and upsetting, is the understanding from several of the older guys that the scratch-built work they had lost – some of which had taken up to 20 years to complete – could not be re-created primarily because they didn’t have sufficient time left on earth,” adds Ivory.

For the director, the intrigue came from people who spend their time in the dark of their attics recreating a smaller version of the world that lives just outside their window. And in keeping with theatre, Penford connects that to the excitement actors feel when they see the model boxes on the first day of rehearsals. The difficulty, however, comes in making something so small so impactful to the audience.

“You could absolutely do this show in a naturalistic way if you wanted to, but Soutra [Gilmour] has given it its own heightened aesthetic,” Penford explains that inspiration has been drawn from the likes of Wes Anderson. On paper, the play is essentially a series of scenes where people sit in a room and talk, and Ivory elaborates that Anderson’s colour palette, framing, and “the way he uses dialogue is refracted through his formative experiences but with an extraordinary focus on what that looks like now.”

Penford reminisces on his time working on One Man, Two Guvnors (he was the choreographer of the original production before directing the 2014 revival): “This reminds me of that, it is almost like a farce in a classic Noises Off type of way. It’s like how Alan Ayckbourn would write these well-observed people and their relationships – just normal, domestic people who each have a darker side to their relationships and careers. It’s bittersweet but laugh-out-loud funny.”

When it came to casting – the show stars performers like Babatunde Aléshé (who Penford directed many moons ago) and Adrian Scarborough (a Nottingham Playhouse veteran) – Ivory was looking for “truth tellers”, explaining that they sought out “those who could do it with a twinkle in their eyes and a sense of the comedic lineage that I wanted to pay homage to; Ayckbourn, Frayn, Stoppard.”

While a seat is always waiting for a certain legendary singer, there are plenty ready to be filled with junior model railway builders and future hobbyists. “The club received a lot of donations after the tragedy, and they used some of them to build a junior model railway to try and get that next generation coming through,” Penford says, “I think that’s kind of lovely.”