Frances Hodgson Burnett’s beloved book remains a childhood favourite for many, and this new adaptation for the Open Air Theatre gives a new slant on The Secret Garden.
Directed by Anna Himali Howard (also co-adapter with Holly Robinson), and designed by Leslie Travers, this version is not the one we remember.
The cast acts as chorus/narrators throughout, which adds energy and focus to each scene. Animals and birds are created by a twist of a costume or a blob of paint on a hand – Sharan Phull’s robin a particular joy.
When Mary Lennox (Hannah Khalique-Brown) has to leave a privileged life in Raj-era India, she finds herself orphaned, lonely, and scared in the wilds of Yorkshire.
It’s at her uncle’s manor, on the edge of the moor, cold and mysterious, that her life changes and secrets begin to unfold in the creaks of the old house.
The book may have been pure England, but this adaptation brings India fully in by giving Mary an Indian mother and English father.
The Secret Garden was her aunt’s, and that’s not all she left behind. As Mary starts to feel purpose in her strange new home, other things happen which may be magic.
By focusing on the elements foreign to England, this version dilutes the original novel’s charm, but there is a lot to enjoy from the paper chain garden to Mary’s slow engagement with nature.
The cast is assembled with care, and with Dickon (the ‘magic boy’) played by a woman, Brydie Service, and Colin (the sickly cousin hidden upstairs) by gender-fluid actor and wheelchair user Theo Angel, it is an inclusive endeavour.
I enjoyed the depiction by Molly Hewitt-Richards of young maid Martha, herself only a child of 13, as well as the steely housekeeper Mrs Meadows (Amanda Hadingue).
The Craven brothers (Jack Humphrey and George Fletcher) are given their own issues to deal with, but unlike the musical Secret Garden, no romantic conflict. They are just repressed and reserved.
Another gem in the cast is Richard Clews‘s grumbling Ben the gardener, whose Yorkshire accent and manner give a crusty camaraderie to this house’s character.
The Secret Garden adds an extra layer to Hodgson-Burnett’s work, and perhaps goes a little too much off-piste towards the end, but it shows a respect for the original book.
I’m giving this ***.5.
The Secret Garden continues at the Open Air Theatre until 20 Jul with tickets here.
Image credit: Alex Brenner