Theatre Review: All is revealed behind the secret garden

Keswick’s Theatre by the Lake (TBTL) is coming to the end of the final production of the 2017 season with a few days left to see The Secret Garden – and what a beautiful production it is too.

Taking something of a gamble, artistic director Conrad Lynch moved away from the magical fairy-tale stories, much beloved by audiences over the Christmas period at TBTL and went for the classic children’s story by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The risk paid off for a number of reasons.

Director Liz Stevenson kept the play at just the right level, avoiding too much sentimentalism and expressing a greater connection to Indian roots for Mary, the main character of the story. This is no surprise – the same director did a superb job with the smash hit Handbagged during the summer.

Likewise, the music, lighting and stage direction were all on point. The set design in particular, was a masterpiece of the use of space. There were no cumbersome scene changes – traditionally inevitable with a story which moves from inside to outside all the time. Instead, a clever two-storey ‘cube’ centre stage allowed almost seamless scene changes. The result: the magic was never broken.

And then there’s the actors themselves. A young cast, some inexperienced and not necessarily perfectly cast (Chris Jack as the father, Archibald Craven, was just a little too young and too sweet to be convincing as a heartbroken and bitter hunchback) but nonetheless, a strong team with some outstanding performers.

Olivia Sweeney played the maid, Martha, and for the first time of all productions I’ve seen in the past, brought this character from the book alive and made her both believable and lovable. The star of the show though was – the star of the show! Natasha Cottriall is an astonishing young actor and might just be the best Mary I’ve seen. Believably a little girl, believably rude and obnoxious, believably a changed person through the healing of love and nature; This fine young actress was a joy to watch. Oh! She had a magical singing voice too and the production made full use of that fact. I hope TBTL hire Cottriall again.

You might just still have opportunity to snag a ticket or two before it’s too late. But more importantly, the forthcoming season of plays looks likely to continue the magic and quality seen in The Secret Garden. Find out more about what’s coming from the Box Office on 017687 74411 or visit theatrebythelake.com