The Court Theatre’s The Wind in The Willows follows the ever-loved classical tale of Mole, Ratty, Badger and Toad of Toad Hall. The script was adapted from Kenneth Grahame’s story by Alan Bennett in 1991, bringing a renewed lens to the original tale, now nearly thirty years established in theatre. Director Ross Gumbley has taken the show to a new place with his cast and vision. He transports the audience to an English woodland evocative of the nostalgic excitement and fantasy of Beatrix Potter, occasionally giving way to a haunted, dark territory with its crippled, shadowy trees that seem to move by themselves.

Gumbley’s cast has taken on this family-favourite play with light-heartedness and integrity. The audience is enthralled with surprise and delight with the seasonal pantomime, which, beyond carolling field mice, is not particularly seasonal. Bennetts’s adaptation leaves out Kenneth Grahame’s side-stories of emotional development that involve Mole and Rat’s riverside perambulating in favour of bombastic Toad-oriented action. This allows plenty of space for the elaborate effects that encapsulate all of the stand-out qualities of the production team. [More] 

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The Court Theatre’s new production of The Wind in the Willows may not be the riotously funny or fast-paced theatrical hurly-burly of the sort that is often thrown at us these days, but if you don’t need to be assaulted with sledgehammer-like impact in order to respond to live theatre, there is much to enjoy in Ross Gumbley’s direction of Alan Bennett’s stage adaption of this classic.

Apart from a couple of the play’s main characters, which need to be cast with more experienced actors of a ‘certain age’, the cast of more than twenty performers is predominantly young, talented and notably versatile. Many are becoming increasingly familiar, not only at Court Theatre but in other companies as well, including some of their own initiative. Christchurch theatre is certainly benefiting hugely from graduates of the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art (NASDA).

In the past we have seen many of these performers in more significant roles and so the depth of characterisation right down to the play’s various mice, rabbits and squirrels is very impressive indeed. The entry of the otters, swimming in the river, gets a big laugh from the opening night audience and I particularly enjoy the group of nasty weasels, even if Kathleen Burns’ very funny portrayal of Weasel Norman is clearly based on the Catherine Tate character ‘Nan’.

The ubiquitous Eilish Moran seems able to take on almost any sort of character. Her engaging incarnation as Mole is full of humour, personality and sparkle, and she proves an ideal foil for Gregory Cooper’s pernickety and dogmatic Ratty. Tom Trevella’s congenial and visually striking Badger is perhaps a just little too amiable to make the most of the contrast between the authoritative and softer sides of his character, so that his relenting to the whims of his companions seems just a little too easy at times.

The central role of Toad receives an animated and sympathetic, if rather generalised, characterisation from Cameron Rhodes which doesn’t quite erase memories of Mark Hadlow’s more quirkily individual portrayal in an earlier Court production. However, Rhodes’ depiction of Toad’s thoughtless and self-entitled nature comes across effectively and entertainingly throughout the evening.

I’ve already mentioned the real depth of characterisation among this very large cast, far too numerous to mention all individually, but there are some delightful cameos from Andrew Todd (Albert the horse), Fergus Inder (Chief Weasel and Train Driver) and especially Monique Clementson’s extraordinarily batty Magistrate. 

The play’s few songs by Jeremy Sams, while appropriate in their dramatic context, have little originality or character, but the insertion of In the Bleak Midwinter at the end of the first half of the show demonstrates the versatility and vocal abilities of the young cast. Beautifully sung in four-part harmony with stillness and tonal opulence, it’s a truly magical moment.

Giles Tanner’s subtly varied and, when required, quite spectacular lighting, and Stephen Robertson’s multitude of imaginatively designed costumes, are huge assets in this production, and Julian Southgate’s wonderfully old-worldly set, which greets us as we enter the auditorium, is like a sumptuous storybook cover begging to be opened. And then, as director Ross Gumbley opens it and turns its pages, Kenneth Grahame’s riverbank animal world comes vividly to life.

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