THEATRE ROYAL, BURY ST EDMUNDS, NEW SEASON

The lovely Regency theatre in Bury St Edmunds has revealed its new season productions. Among the highlights is the theatre’s own production of The Secret Garden. It features professional actors working side-by-side with a local young cast selected for the Theatre Royal’s annual summer school.  This is a brand-new adaptation of a much-loved story.  One of biggest themes of The Secret Garden is transformation and growth.

At the beginning of the play, all of the characters are in some way damaged. Mary has been brought up without much love. Her parents have left her to be raised by her Ayah (a nursemaid employed by the British in India). Over the course of the play, Mary discovers the wonders of the garden. She is overjoyed by the simple discovery of green shoots emerging from the earth. She is transformed by this discovery. The garden is a metaphor for personal growth. As we see the garden transform from ‘dead’ branches, to buds and finally to flowers, so too we see all of these characters come to life.

Mary is the driving force behind this, which is why Frances Hodgson Burnett’s protagonist has become one of the best-loved characters in fiction. She transforms those around her through her curiosity about the world. She is able to see the world afresh and enable a reader/audience member to experience the world through her. A message that has definitely stood the test of time.

Theatre Royal In-House Community Production: The Secret Garden

Fri 19 Aug – Sat 3 Sept

BOOKING INFORMATION 

www.theatreroyal.org

booking@theatreroyal.org

The Box Office is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 6pm. 01284 769505