Children's Auditions for The Railway Children

Children's open auditions will take place on Saturday for Damian Cruden's production of The Railway Children which will be performed over the summer in the former Eurostar terminal at Waterloo Station.

The Railway Children comes to London after two sell out seasons at the National Railway Museum, York, where the production was produced by York Theatre Royal.

Neale Birch, staff director of The Railway Children, is looking for local children who live in the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark, aged between 9 and 16 years old, to perform as support cast, playing alongside the professional actors throughout the run.

Auditions will take place inside the former Eurostar terminal at Waterloo Station on Saturday 22 May. All children need to meet at Platform 19 and must be accompanied by a parent or guardian in order to register. Registration will take approximately one hour.

Boys and girls between ages 9 and 12 years should register at 10am and at 2pm registration will take place for boys and girls between ages 13 and 16 years old. Children should wear comfortable clothes and trainers or soft shoes. No preparation is required.

Previous acting experience is desirable, but an interest in performing, good discipline, reliability and punctuality are far more important.

Rehearsals begin on 1 June for four weeks. Each young actor will be required to rehearse on eight days throughout that period. These dates will be scheduled taking into account school timetables. During the technical rehearsals, week commencing 28 June, the young actors will be required to rehearse on four days, also to be scheduled nearer the time.

Once the show is in performance each of the young actors will be required to perform a minimum of eighteen performances between 3 July and 4 October. During this performing time groups will be scheduled making allowances for each child to have a two week holiday during that period.

For further details about the children's auditions: [email protected]

The auditorium, created especially for the show, will be built with the audience seated either side of the original railway track, with the action taking place both on the track and on the platforms either side. The production, which uses the old gentlemen's saloon carriage from the original film, will also feature a steam locomotive from the National Railway Museum in York.