Mike Kenny’s 2010 adaptation of E Nesbit’s famous 1906 novel has rapidly become a modern classic. I’ve seen it several times in the hands of various directors and companies and – tender, realistic, nostalgic but with plenty of bite – it’s always a sure fire winner. And Scott le Crass’s version for OVO with 6 adults and six children (alternating teams) is, of course, an enjoyable evening’s theatre.

It’s an ingeniously low budget show – the unrolling of a huge train banner to suggest the near miss railway crash is a brilliant idea. And the upstage gantry – part of all this season’s OVO shows at the Roman Theatre – works perfectly as a railway bridge. Less successful is the use of trunks and suitcases as a moveable set. Yes, they evoke the whole idea of trains and travel and work well enough as, say, tables or fallen rocks but there is far too much lifting and waving them around the stage for no apparent reason. It becomes a distracting irritant.

Kenny’s script gives us the three children looking back and telling their story as adults – often disagreeing about the details. That gets round their being adults but acting like children as neatly in this production as it always does. Charlotte Ware is warm and compelling as adolescent Bobbie although I was unconvinced by the “flirtation” with the broken legged boy in the tunnel because he’s half her size and at least five years younger. Will Kirkham gets all the right boyishness, decency and vulnerability that Peter needs. Best of the three, however, is Grace Bassett as Phyllis, the youngest Railway Child. Bassett pouts, stamps her foot, puts her oar in and then smiles through it all. It’s an outstanding performance. I really believed she was every nine year old I’ve ever known.

Charlie Clee plays all the male roles with a nice range of voices and gaits. And I liked the doubling joke when he is suddenly thrown the stethoscope and told he has to be the doctor and he says “But I haven’t got any more voices!” He then finds one – obviously  Emma Wright packs gravitas, and anxiety along with love for her children and yearning for her husband into Mother and Josie Rattigan adeptly plays all the other adult female roles with lots of good Yorkshire voice where required.

I wish, though, that more time had been spent training the juvenile ensemble to use radio mics properly. One of them occasionally gets a line or two to speak and they’re hard to hear which gives the show an amateurish feel at those moments. They could have been rehearsed more fully in stage presence too although their running through the “tunnel” is a strong moment.

My other reservation is Tom Cagnoni’s music which is both clumsy and bolted on. This is not a film – familiar as we all are with a famous film of this very story. We don’t need sudden (miscued?) bursts of incongruous, loud music. Michael Bird’s sound design, though, complete with steam train noises is quite effective.