BRACKNELL’S South Hill Park Arts Centre is taking theatre outdoors this summer.
Its August production of The Secret Garden will be magically staged in the centre’s Italian Gardens.
Staged in a unique run of enchanting performances, it promises to be a special summer event.
Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic novel of the name, loved by generations of readers, has been adapted by Sylvia Ashby.
At its centre is Mary Lennox, a sullen, spoiled and unhappy 10-year-old orphan.
When she is sent from India to live with her brooding uncle at gloomy Misselthwaite Manor in Yorkshire, she discovers a hidden, neglected garden.
Secretly, she visits it, and as she tends its emerging spring flowers, watched by a friendly robin, Mary herself begins to blossom.
And in the garden she plants the seeds of new life, not only for herself, but for all those drawn into her secret refuge – including kindly local boy Dickon, who knows all about flora and fauna, and her sickly cousin Colin whose wails she hears echoing through the house at night.
The production is directed by Gemma Roch, with set design from Victoria Spearing
A wonderful story of transformation, the magic of nature, and blossoming hope, it can be seen at South Hill Park from Friday, August 21 through to Monday, August 31 (with the exception of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday August 24, 25 and 26).
Performances are at noon and 4pm each day.
Tickets cost £18.50 for adults and £14.50 for under 16s.
For tickets and information, visit: southhillpark.org.uk
