THE SECRET GARDEN at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

★★★

“With a strong ensemble cast directed tightly by Anna Himali Howard the first act was a delight”

A normal child would cry but Mary Lennox is not a “normal child” as we discover in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic children’s novel, The Secret Garden, in this new stage version by Holly Robinson and Anna Himali Howard.

1903 during the British Raj, is where we meet the 10-year-old Mary, ignored by her glittering parents; as her Indian mother and British army father party hard, living their colonial life – and literally dying overnight as they chose to ignore the “unimportant” servants dying of the cholera spreading through their house.

The orphaned Mary is unceremoniously shipped to England to live in her uncle’s stately home on the Yorkshire Moors. A broken-hearted house that is full of secrets, which the staff are not very good at keeping hidden from the tenacious and contrary Mary.

Left to make her own entertainment, Mary discovers a secret garden with the help of a friendly robin. Overgrown and unloved for years, it is a forbidden garden. And so, begins the enduring tale of broken hearts healed through nature as all learn how, with the right tending and care, they can bloom and be loved, like the garden.

In what should have been the perfect setting for The Secret Garden, in the open air with nature all around, the production does not deliver on the expected magic as the secret garden grows and thrives – and does not use the natural setting.

The set designed by Leslie Travers starts off so beautifully but by the time the clunky dark earth filled empty flower beds on squeaking iron wheels are pushed onstage; and seeing the not-disabled friendly secret door into the garden fail to fit Colin and their wheelchair through it, making the character + chair go through the “wall”, rather than go through the actual secret door into the secret garden, the magic has disappeared. The Indian paper chains and flowers were pretty but not enough to be magical, and the lovely Indian inspired powder paint thrown onto the back of the set was too little and too late in the show – and could not be seen by most of the audience.

There is magic in the creation of the robin played beautifully by Sharan Phull from the moment she pops up on top of the very high garden wall and charms with Indian song and dance, with a hennaed red breast on each of her hands, used as the sweet robin flittering from branch to branch. And for me, true open air theatre magic happened as a real robin decided to watch stage left on the speaker!

Other puppetry was made from transforming a black shawl into a crow, a fur stole into a grey squirrel and a jumper to a fox, lovingly played by the cast.

Richard Clews as the old loyal gardener Ben Weatherstaff and Amanda Hadingue as Mrs Medlock, in this production, a not quite so formidable housekeeper, are both classic perfect performances. Molly Hewitt-Richards as Martha has laugh out loud moments of natural comedy in her performance. And the word moor, pronounced “moo-er” by all three with their strong Yorkshire accent, is used to amusing effect throughout.

With a strong ensemble cast directed tightly by Anna Himali Howard the first act was a delight.

But the second act rambled by bringing in to play new storylines including a new love development between Colin and Dicken; and an AWOL aunt Padma (sister to both Mary and Colin’s dead mothers) joining the children in the secret garden, which again somewhat breaks the spell of who enters the garden to help everything grow.

There was a tacit point to introducing this new character, as the three Indian sisters had clearly chosen different paths, two by marrying rich Englishmen as both Mary and Colin’s dead mothers had; or fighting against the British Raj as Aunt Padma (Archana Ramaswamy) appears to have done.

This production attempts to show harsh differences between upper and lower classes, a hard call to mix into The Secret Garden. Colin (Theo Angel) must come to terms with the realisation that he will never walk and will always be in a wheelchair. So how could his disabled father Lord Craven (Jack Humphrey) ever love him, as his father is only interested in searching the world to find a cure for his son? Colin’s uncle Dr Craven (George Fletcher) also has a disability – the upper classes hide away disability. And then there is happy Dicken (Brydie Service) who uses a walking stick, yet everyone loves him, and he is called magical….

The script focuses on all the various characters’ disabilities – and the denouement of this production is that it is alright “not to be perfect” – but ultimately it is the parents who are to blame, depending on how they treat disabilities and differences when their offspring are young. Perfectly Harsh.

The star of the night is Hannah Khalique-Frown as Mary Lennox, playing this complex child with complete believability, rarely seen when an adult plays a 10-year-old. And by the end of The Secret Garden, you believe that her Mary cries real tears, as any loved normal child would.

THE SECRET GARDEN at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Reviewed on 25th June 2024

by Debbie Rich

Photography by Alex Brenner

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE ENORMOUS CROCODILE | ★★★★ | May 2024

TWELFTH NIGHT | ★★★★★ | May 2024

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES | ★★★★★ | August 2023

ROBIN HOOD: THE LEGEND. RE-WRITTEN | ★★ | June 2023

ONCE ON THIS ISLAND | ★★★★ | May 2023

LEGALLY BLONDE | ★★★ | May 2022

ROMEO AND JULIET | ★★★★ | June 2021

THE SECRET GARDEN

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★★★★

“it’s wittier and more playful, equal parts cheerful and chilling.”

This sizzling one woman show adapted from Eliza Clark’s acclaimed novel is provocative and powerful and deeply sinister.

The play follows Irina (Aimée Kelly), a Newcastle based fetish photographer who is exploring the subversion of the male gaze in her work. After a London gallery requests something more hardcore, her work becomes increasingly violent. She begins blurring lines of consent, and increasingly of reality.

We are immersed into the story from the off. The audience are greeted with business cards, the curtain has projections of gallery description labels, we have been invited to an exhibition opening. Peter Butler’s set design sees the stage left bare, except for one stool and one thin gauze screen. And one performer. Sara Joyce’s simple and intimate direction works strikingly well throughout, a particular moment stands out where Kelly sits down on the edge of the stage, swinging her legs into the stalls, and addressing the audience directly and frankly.

Gillian Greer’s adaptation is direct and sparse. The story has been streamlined, and simplified, which works well. It does lose some of the claustrophobic skin crawling horror of the novel. Instead, it’s wittier and more playful, equal parts cheerful and chilling.

Joyce’s direction sees a mix of live performance with video elements designed by Hayley Egan. This allows Joyce to play with time and space, but also employs effects to startle and discomfort the audience.

“This is the kind of urgent, provocative theatre that Soho Theatre does best”

Kelly’s performance is compelling and intense. She multi-roles, throwing herself into every character with passion and focus. She is also heavily pregnant, something which is rare to see on stage, but is an important step in the fight for pregnant actors’ rights. It is a physical performance, and one which explores the body and sex, and it’s fascinating how quickly we forget her pregnancy, and focus on the performance. It is a really impressive feat.

The sound (Tom Foskett-Barnes) and lighting (Christopher Nairne) designs are contemporary and raw. Playing into the exploration of photography and visual mediums there is multimedia – projections of long exposure photography, layered film, letters, flashing images, words and text messages. Flickering lights, pulsing beats, prolonged projections of brightly coloured screens – all of these combine to build audience discomfort, along with the startling subject matter.

Parts of the play feels a little literal, a bit on the nose. Everything does tie up but some moments are a bit disjointed, maybe a little rushed. While the messaging of the play is perhaps too spelled out, the ideas are fascinating. How far must Irina go to be taken seriously as a threat?

This is the kind of urgent, provocative theatre that Soho Theatre does best. The adaptation feels as fresh and almost as shocking as the novel, while also being funny.

THE SECRET GARDEN at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

★★★

“With a strong ensemble cast directed tightly by Anna Himali Howard the first act was a delight”

THE SECRET GARDEN at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Reviewed on 25th June 2024

by Debbie Rich

Photography by Alex Brenner

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE SECRET GARDEN

THE SECRET GARDEN

BOY PARTS at Soho Theatre

★★★★

“it’s wittier and more playful, equal parts cheerful and chilling.”

“This is the kind of urgent, provocative theatre that Soho Theatre does best”

BOY PARTS at Soho Theatre

Reviewed on 23rd October 2023

by Auriol Reddaway

Photography by Joe Twigg

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Boy Parts

Boy Parts