Culture news and discussion on TalkFuse.
The Market Deeping Model Railway Club review – the absurdities of British life in miniature
William Ivory's new comedy, The Market Deeping Model Railway Club, has opened at Nottingham Playhouse to a warm critical reception, earning praise as an endearing group portrait of British eccentricity. The play draws on a real incident from 2019, when four youths broke into a school hall in Lincolnshire, discovered a model railway exhibition and vandalised it for a laugh, and it uses this event to explore the quiet dedication of hobbyists and the shattering impact of such destruction.
Directed by Adam Penford, the production features seven male performers alongside Lucy Briers as the club's put-upon secretary, with the reviewer likening its tone to Calendar Girls and Dad's Army. Ivory frames the story within the Brexit era, referencing Theresa May's resignation and Boris Johnson's promises, and probing where nostalgia for a bygone Britain shades into suspicion of outsiders. The reviewer notes that although this political weight may be too heavy for such a gentle tale, the accomplished cast — including Adrian Scarborough, Paul Bradley and Babatunde Aléshé — carry it off, delivering what is described as "an N gauge pleasure".
In short
- Warmly reviewed comedy about model railway enthusiasts at Nottingham Playhouse.
- Inspired by a real 2019 vandalism of a Lincolnshire exhibition.
- Strong cast offsets slightly overweighted Brexit-era themes.
Explained simply
The Market Deeping Model Railway Club is a new comedy by William Ivory that has opened at Nottingham Playhouse. It tells the story of the members of a real model railway club in Lincolnshire and what happens when their exhibition is vandalised.
The play is based on an incident from 2019, when four young people broke into a school hall in Lincolnshire and destroyed a model railway exhibition. Rather than focusing on the vandals, the play explores the club members and examines the impact of this destruction on them.
The story is set against the backdrop of the Brexit era and draws on real events to explore themes about British nostalgia and attitudes in contemporary society. The play examines these themes through the everyday world of a model railway club and its members.