The Secret Garden – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

When a new adaptation of a favourite childhood novel is announced, you approach it with trepidation – will the experience of the book be ruined, will they change it so much that it is unrecognisable? With this production of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic, you have nothing to worry about. Created by Holly Robinson and Anna Himali Howard, it is delightfully fresh and endearing, with new layers of love and acceptance that only add to the tale’s magic.

Mary Lennox (played to perfection by Hannah Khalique-Brown) is growing up as a neglected, spoilt child in India when an outbreak of cholera orphans her. She is transplanted from the only life she has known to the foreign new climes of Yorkshire, to Misslethwaite Manor with its 100 rooms. The maid, Martha (Molly Hewitt-Richards), is her first friend; she tells her about the moor, about dressing for the cold, about Dickon, and about the existence of a secret garden that has been locked up for 10 years.

Mary comes to unlock the mysteries of the manor one by one, in the process discovering both the hidden garden and a secluded cousin, Colin. She makes more friends and she brings a garden back to life. She spreads the magic around, and pulls Colin out of his shell into discovering the joy of living.

In a deviation from the original, Mary’s and Colin’s mothers are sisters and Indian. Their eldest sister, Padma, has been involved in the independence movement back in India and is the one who brings maternal love to the two children who have not known the love of a parent.

A beautiful detail is that the three sisters are named after plants: Padma (lotus), Champa (plumeria), and Lata (vine).

The play explores themes of acceptance and belonging. Mary wants to belong to someone, to some place. The closest she had come to it was her old ayah in her parents’ house. With her newly forged ties with family and friends, she reclaims her childhood. Colin’s despairs come from his inability to walk. In another major deviation from the original, he comes to accept that he may never walk, helping his father also in seeing that it does not mean the end of life itself. Theo Angel’s brilliant performance as Colin will convince even the hardcore sticklers for accuracy who would want him to walk (as in the book) that it is alright.

The chorus was both poignant and witty in its narrations. Using shawls and jumpers to craft the menagerie of creatures that follow Dickon (played by Brydie Service), helping flowers grow, they carry the story on their shoulders. Sharan Phull was especially fun as the robin, flitting across the stage with her song.

It was personal too, for this reviewer. Having first read the book while growing up in India, it was a window to the English countryside, with strange new flowers and the mysterious moor. To then see India represented so vividly through the characters, incorporating the history of the period, was an intensely moving experience.

Playing until 20th July, https://openairtheatre.com/production/the-secret-garden

Reviewer: Savitha Venugopal

Reviewed: 25th June 2024

North West End UK Rating: