Daddy! My Daddy!!

By Ollie Lee

Watching Jenny Agutter run across the platform shouting “daddy my daddy” every Christmas is somewhat of a tradition in our family. I think it is mostly down to coincidence, it’s the one time of the year we are all together, and The Railway Children will always happens to be on television the same time we are gathered in the sitting room.

“Daddy my daddy” is undoubtedly the most iconic moment of The Railway Children story, and if you think it is emotional in the film, you ain’t seen nuthin’ to you have seen our show. Having worked as an usher I have now seen the play seven times, and every time our own Sarah Quintrell (who plays Bobby) rushes across the stage to the arms of her father, I get always get a little choked up. I think there is something about live theatre, about the lighting, the music, about Sarah Quintrell, that makes it all the more emotional.

But onto my main reason for writing –

A couple of days ago I was working in an ushering position called ‘foyer float’ which involves me being plugged into a radio and making sure the audience are where they should be. When the show finished, and I was saying goodnight to everyone as they were leaving, a girl about 6 came up to me, tears streaming down her face. “I’ve lost my mummy” she stuttered through sobs.

I reassured her, and sent a message out on the radio to say there was a missing child. While we were waiting I suggested to the girl that when her mother appeared again, she should do just as Bobby did at the end of the play and run and give her mum a big hug, I didn’t imagine she could execute it quite as well as she did. When her mum appeared (from the toilets) the little girl caught sight of her, took a deep breath, and ran across the foyer, shouting “mummy my mummy!” finally leaping into the arms of her mother, maybe not quite as iconic, but still rather dramatic and just like the mother says in the play, “Things do happen in real life that are rather like books, sometimes.”