The Secret Garden Reviews

Steve from London, England

A BEAUTIFUL MOMENT

The setting of the play was fabulous. The set was well used and the manner in which the garden developed over the course of the play was super clever. The lighting supported the acting beautifully. There were strong performances from all of the cast and the standing ovasion was well deserved. A thoroughly beautiful production. Cleverly written and directed. We are going back again.

Gigi from London, England

STUNNING PERFORMANCES AND CLEVER PRODUCTION

A magical play with wonderful performances by a strong cast. Using puppets for the animals was genius and fun, and the robin was clever and witty. The audience is required to use its imagination and enjoy this as an immersive experience, instead of sitting passively; this was joyous and creative. Hannah Khalique-Brown as the brattish Mary lennox was brilliant, including her yorkshire accented exchanges with the maid; and Colin, the equally spolit boy was excellent. Supporting cast were fabulous, funny and engagaing. the vibe , lighting and stage production was superb. You should come here for a special and magical night. Don't expect a flashy central London indoor theatre production, use your immagination, engage with the characters and let yourself laugh and cry. Beautiful. Well done. Fun for all the family and all ages.

A A from London, England

FAILED TO CAPTURE THE MAGIC

A story set in a rambling moorland mansion with a magical garden was always going to be difficult to adapt to a small stage. Sadly, they didn’t really pull it off. The designers completely missed a trick by not utilising the hedges and trees which form a natural backdrop to the open air auditorium. I was hoping for a magically transformed set where you almost felt part of the garden, instead the ivy covering the door was a bit of green rag and there was nothing to illustrate the beauty of the garden. It all felt a bit low budget am dram As for using fur collars and cardigans to make sock puppet animals, I felt like I was watching a school play. Having a woman in a sari waving around her hand with a red dot to represent the robin was also stretching the boundaries of imagination. The choral narration by the cast was an interesting take and well delivered but didn’t quite work as they were deceased characters from the Indian part of the story and seemed out of place prancing about in Yorkshire. There were some warm, funny performances from the actors playing the house staff but Mary’s overacted brattishness was a bit grating and the adult actor was unconvincing as a ten year old girl. Similarly having grown women playing Dickon and Colin was just bizarre. It felt as if it wasn’t quite sure whether to be pantomime or serious play and fell somewhere in between.

Sarah Murphy from London, England

SECRET GARDEN REGENTS PARK THEATRE

Disappointing, reminded me of a bad school production, terrible set , all done on the cheap, zero enchantment, & amateur dramatics!

Page:1All