by Lizzie Albert - Montgomery Blair High School
submitted to The Georgetown Current
There is a moment, midway through the first act of the St. Albans/National Cathedral School’s wonderful production of The Secret Garden, when Archibald Craven (Will Lockhart) stands silent and suffering, with a rose in one hand and a cane in the other. This moment just about encompasses The Secret Garden—a poignant, hauntingly beautiful exploration of past and present. The cane and the rose are a metaphor for the struggle between being emotionally and physically crippled, and embracing life, the conflict that drives the show.
The Secret Garden, based on the book by Francis Hodgson Burnett with lyrics and music by Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon, is the story of eleven-year-old Mary Lennox, who is sent to live with her uncle Archibald in Yorkshire when her parents die of cholera. Archibald is haunted by the memory of his dead wife, Lily (Elizabeth Hankla) and has withdrawn from his responsibilities as master of his house and father to sickly Colin (Lyon Stewart). Similarly, Mary’s parents, and to an even greater extent, the Ayah (Isa Marin) and Fakir (Tim Rivera) who were her caretakers in India, are ever present in her mind and on the stage.
Kate Page, as Mary, is vivacious, earnest and light on her feet—much more appealing than the bratty child portrayed in Burnett’s novel. She sings seemingly without effort, with a child’s radiant innocence and energy, providing a dynamic contrast with Lily, whose ringing, classically beautiful voice eminently suits her role as a sort of guardian angel watching over her household. Both she and Archibald (also an excellent singer) have a gravity that suggests maturity and helps to define the age distinctions between themselves and the younger members of the household.
These include the servants Martha (Braden Lake), Dickon (Julian Kusnadi) and Mrs. Medlock (Katie Grant-Suttie), all of whom establish a distinct character the moment they appear onstage. Mrs. Medlock is acrid and sharp; Martha is brisk, cheery, and genuinely kind to Mary. Dickon is nimble and brimming with the magic and beauty of nature, and so slyly good-hearted that he tricks Mary out of her sullen loneliness almost before she notices. Both Dickon and Mary—unlike some characters—maintain their Yorkshire accents throughout their scenes and songs, and both have beautiful voices and a commanding presence onstage.
The lights (designed by Lane Bracken) bring life to the beautiful but fixed set, and help to set time, place and atmosphere without calling attention to themselves. Scene changes are performed by briskly and efficiently by stage crew costumed as servants. Overall, the technical elements of the show provide a solid support for an extremely talented cast. The one exception is the orchestra, which does not live up to the prodigious talent of the show’s leading vocalists.
The Secret Garden is a story told in pieces, like a trowel loosening the earth around a buried key. Dead characters appear as ghosts in the minds of the living, moving the story along by casting a light on the tensions of the present. In turn, Mary, Colin and Archibald learn that by creating and embracing life—by planting flowers and reaching out to the people around them—they can shake off the shadow of the past and teach themselves to live again.