The timeless charm of The Railway Children on the West Sussex stage

Performances will be at Walberton Village Hall, BN18 0PJ from Thursday to Saturday, February 20-22, with tickets available via https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/walberton-village-hall/walberton-village-hall/the-railway-children/e-zvzepo

“You just can't think about the role without thinking of Bernard Cribbins,” Martin admits. “I'm 59 now and growing up in the 70s, Bernard Cribbins was always on TV. He was everywhere. And with this you can't help but think of him. And I don't feel that as pressure. It's just really nice to do something that people know. I've done so many plays over the years where you have to explain some weird and wacky plot to people. But with this one you just say The Railway Children and people know what it's all about.

“I watched it again recently and it's just a lovely, charming film. It was really good to see. There are some wonderful films that come out but with this it is just a really good gentle film with a nice storyline. It's just a really good escape. There's no virtue signalling. Everything has got a message but you don’t want it forced on you and this doesn’t. This is a really lovely film about a family, a family which is then torn apart and then finds a new life. It's a film about community and how community comes together. It's a story about sticking together and about believing in people.”

So what is Martin going to do with thoughts of Bernard Cribbins?

“I'm not good enough to do a caricature of people but I always like to put a little bit of me in. You name it, I have played it over the years but I always think that if you don't put a little bit of yourself in, then it's not going to be natural. Perks is the porter really but he does everything at the station in this village and he gets to meet these three children. They get into a few scrapes but they take to him. He is almost like an uncle to them. He lets them off when Peter steals the coal. He is not grumpy. He is kind. These three children turn up at night and he befriends them, and to the railway children he become almost like a stopgap until they can get their own father back.

“I have been with Walberton for two or three years. I have lived Chichester way six or seven years and I've worked with a lot of other groups. This year I think I’m going to be doing three. Sometimes I might do two in a year. It just depends on what is happening. I've reached the stage where I like to pick and choose what I do a bit more!”

Martin has been acting for more than 30 years having got into it initially backstage and then being lured onto the stage as part of the crowds required for a production of Lettice and Lovage by Peter Shaffer. Since then he hasn't looked back.

“I just love live theatre, the fact that you can become somebody else after a long day at work. And you just meet such lovely people. You meet the best people whether it's backstage or costumes or other actors. You go on a journey for three months. You've got the set and you’ve got the characters and then you're off the book and then you are doing it. I just love it.”

Pictured are The Railway Children – Bobbie played by Tamsin Brazier, Peter played by Reuben McGreevy and Phyllis played by Emily Glidewell.