Theatre
The Secret Garden
Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Four stars
When little orphan Mary imports her bratty ways from India to Yorkshire following the death of her parents, the occupants of Misselthwaite Manor don’t know what hits them when this ten-year-old human dervish breezes in.
Outgoing Pitlochry Festival Theatre artistic director Elizabeth Newman’s adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 novel stays faithful to its source in director Ben Occhipinti’s speedy revival of his 2023 open-air production. Beyond Mary’s rites of passage and eventual mellowing out, however, its themes of social isolation make a near perfect post-pandemic fable.
As Mary gets wind of another world beyond Misselthwaite’s front door, she charms the birds, or at least a friendly neighbourhood robin, into giving her the key to a long locked up sanctuary.
As she steps into the garden, the noises that haunt her from another locked room are revealed to be coming from the sickly Colin, who Mary gradually draws into her great outdoor adventure.
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As wide eyed wildlife whisperer Dickon introduces them to the wide open space their uncorrupted Eden gives them, the trio find themselves blossoming alongside the landscape as old wounds heal and calm descends.
Performed by in PFT’s outdoor Amphitheatre space by a brand new cast led by Elizabeth Rowe as Mary, Luke Thornton as Colin, and David Rankine as Dickon, the passing of the seasons hasn’t blunted the story’s underlying sense of hope in the face of despair.
From being locked up emotionally and physically, Mary and Colin come blinking into the light as the world opens itself up once more to the everyday magic of human interaction.
This is brought home by a playful use of puppets, as well as by Occhipinti’s impressionistic piano score in a life affirming meditation on grieving, loss and rediscovering a sense of wonder once all gates are open.
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