Review: THE SECRET GARDEN - THE MUSICAL, York Theatre Royal
Photo credit: Marc Brenner
Besides some concert productions, The Secret Garden – The Musical hasn’t received a major UK revival since the West End production in the summer of 2016 which was performed by a company of young actors. Therefore, it’s about time the show returned and it feels incredibly fitting that the show is now being staged in the heart of Yorkshire, the region in which it is set.
Following the loss of her father at war in India, a young Mary Lennox goes to live with her uncle Archibald. Archibald is clearly still deeply grieving the loss of his wife Lily so the house is mainly run by his Archibald’s brother Neville, who’s primary job in life is bring young Colin, Archibald’s son, back to full health after a long term illness. Mary finds a secret garden that has been abandoned since the death of Lily – she brings to the garden back to life with the help with head gardener Ben, house worker Martha and Martha’s brother Dickon. The garden brings joy and warmth back to the house and the life of Archibald.
The Secret Garden has a book and lyrics by Marsha Norman and music by Lucy Simon. Simon’s score is lovely – not too many earworms, but it soars in this new actor-musician production. Norman adapts the nice story (originally a book by Frances Hodgson Burnett) for the stage well – a few more high energy or funny moments wouldn’t go amiss as, on the whole, it meanders along very gently. This is a very condensed version of the musical – the Spring version rather than the full version, with a running time of 90 minutes with no interval – which means we don’t get a huge amount of backstory for any of the characters and the show ends very abruptly rather than giving each character their own ending or comeuppance.
John Doyle returns to York Theatre Royal to direct the production. Doyle was one of the first people to stage a musical in the actor-musician way that is now so popular. He strips the musical right back, meaning we’re mainly just focused on the characters and their relationships – making it slightly stranger that he chose the condensed version of the musical with less character development. Whilst it’s impressive to see a company of actors who also play instruments, here it often means the piece feels quite stationary and we’re not entirely sure what it adds plot-wise for this particular musical. The orchestrations by Catherine Jayes are beautiful though and it’s a delight to hear this score live and played so well.
Doyle and David L. Arsenault’s set design is incredibly simple – a few drapes that go up and down and piles of suitcases that make seats or blocks to stand on. The garden is so secret that we never see it, which is a shame – this feels like a musical that would benefit greatly from an element of spectacle and grandeur. Regardless, for the most part, Doyle’s direction does ensure we can situate ourselves in the house fairly quickly. Gabrielle Dalton’s costume design is nice, with fairly standard period costumes. The choice to dress Mary in modern clothes is slightly strange and it’s a decision that never pays off or gets explained. Tom Marshall’s sound design is immaculate – every note, all of which are played on stage, and every word is heard.
Poppy Jason leads the company exceptionally well as Mary Lennox. She is extremely captivating, building a lovely rapport with her co-stars. She is well matched with her fellow young performer Cristian Buttaci as Colin – he doesn’t have quite so much to do, but brings the journey from frail and unconfident boy to joyful and hopeful boy to life quite well.
Henry Jenkinson is perfect as Archibald, bringing to life the pain and grief he is going through very well. His vocals are wonderfully rich and he brilliantly portrays the journey from recluse to a man who wants to be a good father and guardian. André Refig is equally wonderful as Neville, the closest thing the show has to a villain. He creates a wonderful balance between wanting order and control whilst wanting to do good. He also delivers delightful vocals, with his and Jenkinson’s rendition of ‘Lily’s Eyes’ being a joy to listen to. Elizabeth Marsh gives a great performance as Mrs Medlock, the strict and stern housekeeper. Whilst she gets minimal stage time, she takes her chances to add a sense of foreboding to the proceedings.
Elliot Mackenzie as Dickon and Catrin Mai Edwards as Martha are pure joys to watch on stage. Their rapport with Jason’s Mary is heartwarming as the only friends she really has, until she meets Colin. Both bring huge amounts of energy to the stage. Mackenzie’s musical numbers bring some fun to the musical which otherwise is quite ballad-heavy.
The Secret Garden – The Musical is performed beautifully by an incredibly talented company, but some of the creative choices don’t do the material full justice.
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Jacob Bush
The Secret Garden - The Musical plays at York Theatre Royal until 4 April, with further info here.