REVIEW: The Secret Garden - Salford Arts Theatre, Salford.

The Secret Garden was one of the first novels I ever read as a child and I remember being captivated by the 1970's television adaptation. It tells the enchanting story of Mary Lennox, a spoilt child who is tragically orphaned in India and sent to live with her estranged uncle in an old mansion house in deepest Yorkshire. The old-fashioned sentimentality of the original novel translates perfectly well in Neil Duffield’s stage adaptation at Salford Arts Theatre.

Salford Arts Theatre is an unassuming little 112-seater theatre space in the heart of the city nestled between a shopping precinct, sports centre and a housing estate, far from the grandeur of the neighbouring Lowry complex! This is the only self-funded theatre in Salford and aims to provide accessible theatre for the community to watch and partake in. The listings here range from visiting theatre companies to their own in-house companies; the Young Performers Company for budding thespians aged 7-18 and the professional Salford Theatre Company. This production was performed by the latter group and I had high expectations with predecessors in the company being famous actors such as Ben Kinsley and Christopher Eccleston.

To produce self-funded theatre which is accessible is so hard because you want it to remain affordable without sacrificing quality of production, but director, Roni Ellis has struck a superb balance of creating professional quality theatre on a shoestring budget. The costumes and set were authentic to the turn of the twentieth century in which the story is set and gave a sense of realism to the piece. The staging of wheeled flats to symbolise the interior, garden and walled garden scenes were simplistic but it was in their transitions of these staging flats that Ellis’ direction was clear to witness. The meticulous timing of the transitions and choreographed changeovers gave this performance a dreamlike quality, even between scenes, whilst we watched the changeovers under a dim red hue, there was a true sense of performance. If I were to criticise anything it would be how often the changeovers happened and perhaps there were too many carry-on props and sets to change for the secret garden, creating a sense of repetition which became boring by the time the interval happened. Luckily, the second half didn’t change as often and interior sequences were more successfully executed as asides or with a change of lighting state.

The cast of six were well cast and were equally charismatic performers, with fantastic stage presence and rapport with each other. The friendly Yorkshire manner of Martha, played by Hazel Wilson and Dickon portrayed by Matthew Forey created a real sense of warmth in the story. Scott Berry as Ben Weatherstaff brought a light-hearted humour and was cleverly contrasted by Elizabeth Poole as the stern Mrs Medlock, who was suitably irritating! However, it was the young Libby Hall in her debut in a professional production, who really stood out for me. Libby is home-grown talent as she was in the young performers group until last year and is now writing for the young company as the Arts Theatre’s writer in residence. At only 17 years old, she won the 2018 Best Newcomer Award for her writing at the Greater Manchester Fringe, she is what can only be described as a multi-talented artiste! In her role as Mary Lennox, Hall proved that her acting prowess is just as good as her writing. She created a magnetic portrayal of the young girl as she developed from the demanding child sent from India to the peace-making, nature loving friend of all, overcoming barriers of social class and disability.

This was a lovely little production and I was truly gutted that so few seats were taken. It is a great play with a wonderful cast and a superb director, more people should try and see it. The production runs until Sunday 21st April, and tickets are still available!

Reviewer - Johanna Hassouna-Smith
on - 12/4/19