THEATER REVIEW
“The Secret Garden”
Grade: A
11 a.m. Fridays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Through Aug. 2. $10-$20. Serenbe Playhouse. Follow the signs to The English Garden. (Closest address: 10496 Serenbe Lane, Chattahoochee Hills.) 770-463-1110, serenbeplayhouse.com.
The verdict: Where magic grows.
In the evocative world of Serenbe Playhouse, strange and lovely things constantly happen deep in the forest.
This summer, you can find the key to a clandestine garden where human-size robins preen, roses bloom and sickly Victorian children are transformed by sunlight, fresh air, magic.
Across country roads, down a path freshly cleared of brambles, you’ll discover that Frances Hodgson Burnett’s “The Secret Garden” has materialized out of thin air under a canopy of towering trees. (Or so they would want you to think. In truth, mulch work and digging and watering have gone into this endeavor.)
Thanks to playwright Rachel Teagle, director Ryan Oliveti and garden designer Cameron Watkins, a splendid adaptation of Burnett’s classic 1910 novel has been sculpted on top of what was once Serenbe underbrush.
Newly arrived to the English countryside via India, orphan Mary Lennox (Shelby Folks) enters a Misselthwaite Manor populated by an assortment of characters both ordinary and odd. The tone is Tim Burton meets Charles Dickens with a bit of Charlotte Bronte thrown in for good measure.
On the sunny side, there are the Yorkshire servant types: earthy gardener Ben Weatherstaff (Justin Walker); chirpy housemaid Martha (Shannon McCarren) and her brother, Dickon (Terrence Smith).
On the darker side, there are Mary’s reclusive, barely-there uncle, Archibald Craven (also played by Walker), and his lugubrious, imaginary-invalid son, Colin (David-Aaron Roth).
And in a realm all her own, there’s that fabulous, self-infatuated, flirtatious robin (Cherise James), who strikes quite a cocky attitude and pretends to borrow twigs, sticks and strands of hair from theatergoers for her nest-building.
Teagle cleverly streamlines the wordy tale to about 50 minutes, which is perfect for the intended audience (children), or anyone else who wants to spend the day exploring this Southside destination community or having lunch. Making his directorial debut, Oliveti conceptualizes the piece beautifully, fashioning it in and around Watkins’ garden of ferns and flowers, which are sometimes revealed in the fashion of Jean Cocteau’s “La Belle et La Bete.”
Yes, this show was created with kids in mind, but the adults will see that there is something wonderfully perverse in the robin’s showy shenanigans and Colin’s feigned terminal illness. Or as he puts it, “Delicious!”
Is it appropriate to criticism to say the floor is a little soggy in spots? (In this case, no. That’s the rain’s fault and why the crew has brought in pine straw to keep pedestrians from tumbling. But pity the actors who have to jump rope in their long period skirts and spiked heels.)
Is it fair to say that Daniel Pope’s sound design is a little mawkish? (Why, yes, it is. But then cheesy incidental music is one of my pet peeves, though here it’s only a minor issue.) Are Erik Teague’s costumes spot on? (Yes, from Colin’s lacy shirtsleeves to the robin’s feathered mask.)
I always say that some of Serenbe Playhouse’s best and most playful work is its family and children’s series. This show is no exception. It’s a classic story of initiation with a message of redemption at the end, but along the way, there are ghosts in the garden and a thicket of mystery for Mary to master. There’s irony, literary flair, and some awfully adorable animal friends for us to conjure.
It’s no secret: This well-tended, smartly cultivated production is a garden of earthly delights for each and every sense, including heart and soul.
