Catrin Mai Edwards’ Martha, left, Estella Evans’ Mary Lennox and Dexter Pulling’s Colin in York Theatre Royal’s production of The Secret Garden The Musical. Picture: Marc Brenner
THIS production marks two homecomings: the return of the 1991 Broadway musical to its Yorkshire moorland roots in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 children’s novel, together with John Doyle’s re-acquaintance with York Theatre Royal after 29 years.
The Scotsman had put actor-musician shows at the heart of his York artistic directorship from 1993 to 1997 before going on to win Tony Awards on Broadway when transferring the artform to the United States.
Now, when his cast members fold away the dust sheets at Misselthwaite Manor, they are not only reviving Hodgson’s story but the actor-musician template too, one where all the players are omnipresent on stage, instruments in hand, rather than garden tools, always on the move as if on a merry-go-round.
Doyle and co-scenic designer David L Arsenault further enhance the sense of a ghost story or memory play by populating the stage with trunks and suitcases, in part to reflect 11-year-old orphan Mary Lennox’s arrival at her uncle’s haunted house from India, where her parents have died from cholera.
Haunting presence: Joanna Hickman’s Lily with Henry Jenkinson’s Archibald Craven. left, and Andre Refig’s Neville in The Secret Garden The Musical. Picture: Marc Brenner
Visually, although the moors are depicted on the base of the drapes, the walled garden of the title remains a secret. We never see its regeneration in the form of flowers or foliage; instead seeds are pulled out of trunks or petals fall from above.
The large key, discovered by Mary (Estella Evans, sharing the role with Poppy Jason), must unlock our imagination to create the mysterious yet now magical garden, dormant since the death of Lily (Joanna Hickman), whose fall from a tree had induced her son Colin’s birth, her life curtailed in childbirth.
Marsha Norman and Carly’s sister Lucy Simon’s musical condenses Hodgson’s story into 90 unbroken minutes, and in doing so turns the spotlight rather more on the struggling adults than young Mary’s own spiritual growth, nurtured in tandem with her rejuvenation of bed-ridden Colin (Dexter Pulling, splitting performances with Cristian Buttaci).
The lack of garden matches that shift in focus: we see plenty of the Theatre Royal’s bare black-painted bricks and stone walls, an austere backdrop that adds to the claustrophobia of omnipresent loss that Mary’s uncle Archibald (Henry Jenkinson) imposes on all around him in the grip of grief that leaves him listless and unable to carry out any functions.
His equally stultifying younger brother, doctor Neville (Andre Refig), feels burdened with the need to step in, overseeing Colin’s highly restrictive treatment, ordering Mary to attend school and assuming control in the face of Archibald’s incapacity. In song too, they have a heft reminiscent of opera, and Jenkinson, in particular, sings with devastating impact.
John Doyle’s cast on the set design of cloths, trunks, suitcases and mosaic flooring in Misselthwaite Manor. Picture: Marc Brenner
Floating between both worlds is Hickman’s Lily, who moves in dream-like slow motion by comparison with all around, adding to her ghostly presence. Her singing is sublime throughout, and her performance is the embodiment of Doyle’s belief in the power of actor-musicianship to lift the music-making from underneath (in an orchestra pit) to within the performer.
Hickman, the outstanding performer here, becomes one with her cello, inseparable and heartbreaking – even more so than Jenkinson when at the piano – and this is the apotheosis of Doyle’s performance style and indeed the personification of musical supervisor Catherine Jayes’ gorgeous, deeply moving orchestrations.
The need for light amid the grave shade finds reward in Mary’s relationships with the caring Martha (Catrin Mai Edwards), gardener Ben (Steve Simmonds), young Dickon (Elliot Mackenzie), and especially in her sparring with spoilt, initially insufferable Colin that brings much needed humour.
Mary’s bewilderment at the Yorkshire accent elicits the loudest laugh, and more of this Them and Us banter would have been welcome, whereas the clash is more often one of wills, whether with Ann Marcuson’s teacher Mrs Winthrop or Refig’s Neville.
Elizabeth Marsh, on her return to York Theatre Royal, in the role of Mrs Medlock. Picture: Marc Brenner
Returning to the Theatre Royal, where she had been part of Doyle’s company for his first York actor-musician show, Moll Flanders, Elizabeth Marsh serves a dual role, primarily as stern head housekeeper Mrs Wedlock but also as a symbolic robin, guardian of the “secret” guardian, whose perky presence is represented by constant chirping on flute or whistle: a lovely, uplifting touch.
There is something of an (Indian) elephant in the room. Not so much Dickon being played by an adult (the kindly MacKenzie in roll-up jeans and braces), nor Hickman’s Lily wearing white boots in the Dr Martens style, because artistic licence, directorial whim and costume designer Gabrielle Dalton’s mood board must be allowed to play their part.
More so, why is Mary Lennox in modern clothes with a rucksack on her back (rather than the Indian clothing of the book at the start)? Is this to play to the school groups on GCSE study duty; is Mary reading a book and then stepping into the story? Is it to make Mary even more of an outsider, the alien arriving in Yorkshire? The book she carries is a photo album of relatives, so that rules that theory out; the other explanations go down cul-de-sacs too.
It was a diverting talking point afterwards in the foyer and no suggestion has satisfied your reviewer’s curiosity yet. Further answers on a proverbial postcard are welcome.
York Theatre Royal presents The Secret Garden The Musical, until April 4, 7.30pm (except Sundays and Mondays), plus 2pm, March 26 and April 2; 2.30pm, March 28 and April 4; 6.30pm, tonight and March 30. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Joanna Hickman’s Lily and Dexter Pulling’s Colin in a scene from The Secret Garden The Musical. In the background are Steve Simmonds’ Ben and Elizabeth Marsh’s Mrs Medlock. Picture: Marc Brenner
