Expect a stunning show from The Secret Garden

Ashley Martin
The Carillon
November 27- December 3, 2003

Globe Theatre's The Secret Garden unites beautiful costumes, a unique set and extraordinarily talented actors and singers, not to mention the beautiful choreography by Tracy Houser.  Playing at the Globe until January 4, The Secret Garden begins its preview performances November 24.

It's the inspiring story of a girl who brings love and joy to her miserable family.  Mary Lennox lived in India with her parents.  When they were killed, she was sent to England to live at her Uncle Archibald's estate.  She was a spoiled, angry girl when she arrived, but learned from her new friends and her disabled cousin Colin that life is a wonderful and joyous gift.

"It's a beautiful story, and the music in this particular adaptation of the story is absolutely extraordinary," says Ruth Smillie, Globe Theatre's Artistic Director and Director of The Secret Garden.  "I like doing stories this time of year about these small people, little creatures that do extraordinary things.  This is the time of year that we all need that little boost of joy that these kinds of stories give us."

The Secret Garden features three brilliant young performers, all from Regina: Tatiana Maslany as Mary, and Addison Becker and Zach Phair alternating as Colin Craven.

"My singing voice is okay, but my acting got me the part," says eleven-year-old Becker.

The young actor is very accomplished and sees acting as an opportunity.  He's very excited about the production and says his role has been a challenge.

"Playing that you're sick is pretty hard when you're not sick,"  Becker says, and adds, "but I have a little bit of a flu so it really helps."

The performances in The Secret Garden are stunning.

"You always pray and hope that the chemistry is going to be perfect and it hardly ever happens, but in this cast it truly is," says Smillie.  "It has been one of the most enjoyable, inspiring experiences I've ever had as a director."

The set is another point of admiration, unique in that it has a revolving stage.

"The revolve was an attempt to solve some of the concerns with space and motion," says Wes Pearce, U of R Theatre professor and The Secret Garden set and costume designer.

Smillie adds, "The revolve is a brilliant solution to trying to create the sense of a huge mansion, a sense of space and people moving through space."

The costumes are another highlight of the produciton.

"In terms of costume, there are three groups that I've tried to work with," says Pearce.  "The dreamers are the characters from India, from Mary's past.  There are the good people of the house in earth tones.  Then there are the people of the house in black, grey and silver."

Mary's costume represents her journey, as she shifts from white to black to "much greener, more organic" costume.

The set has a similar progression, but remains darker than the costumes.  The set is comprised of an "interior world" and an "exterior world," Pearce says, and they've tried to keep the two worlds separate.

The songs in The Secret Garden are incredible, written by Grammy Award-winning Lucy Simon, but the amazing voices of the Globe's cast make the songs come alive.

"I don't know that you'll ever experience such joy from the human voice as you will on this stage over the next number of weeks," Smillie insists.  "The play is uplifting, it's absolutely joyous and completely gorgeous.  It's going to be an amazing theatre experience."

A holiday spectacle
 
Nick Miliokas
The Leader-Post
Thursday, December 4, 2003

By its nature -- meaning that it's intended to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, at a time of year when even the most devoted theatre patron could use a break from the "serious" stuff -- the "holiday" show at Globe Theatre tends to be a spectacle.

The Globe has presented some visually stunning productions in recent seasons, and is earning a loyal following for such shows among people who otherwise pick their spots, or don't come out at all -- but artistic director Ruth Smillie believes it truly has outdone itself this time. She describes The Secret Garden as a "showcase for designers."

This is due at least in part to the fact that the original production on London (England) was directed by a designer. Those folks know every trick in the book; and if the book the Globe follows is by necessity a little bit thinner than most, that merely challenges the designers here to do more with less. The funny thing is, more often than not, "less" turns out to be "more."

"If you had the bells and whistles, that would be fun," Smillie says. "But to do it totally with imagination is thrilling. It's so rewarding when you can actually figure out how to do it."

For this show, the designers are Wes Pearce, certainly no stranger to theatregoers in these parts, and (directly from the Stratford Festival in Ontario) Michael Whitfield, who has never been to Saskatchewan before, but has "hopped over it many times."

Pearce created the costumes and set; Whitfield did the lighting. Their vision is one of "transformation," a gradual buildup which brings the garden to full bloom in the spring.

"The big ta-da," Whitfield calls it.

"The people I'm dressing," Pearce says, "will become the garden."

The set is one of platforms, with a staircase level that rotates, and it must somehow accommodate and facilitate a storyline that requires "getting 17 locations on that stage," Pearce says in a tone of voice that is remarkably calm, but only by his standard.

"We're inside, we're outside. We're upstairs, we're downstairs. Make it stop!" Pearce says.

Whitfield has designed lighting that will "guide" the audience from location to location.

"It's a subtle thing," Whitfield says. "It's like a tap on the shoulder that says, 'Come with me, we're going to another place.' "

The show is choreographed by Tracy Houser, a former resident of Regina who now lives and works in Victoria. The musical director is Allison Hui.

"The music is beautiful, and the range in the voices of these actors is incredible," says Smillie, who has once again used her trademark technique -- multiple roles -- to reduce a cast of 30 to 13. "It's been really exciting, because they're all such fabulous singers."

The stage version, a collaboration between playwright Marsha Norman and composer Lucy Simon, is based, of course, on the century-old children story by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

It tells of Mary Lennox (played in this production by Regina's own Tatiana Maslany), an orphan who is sent from India to England to live on the moors at the estate of her Uncle Archibald, where she finds the key to an enclosed and neglected garden which she brings back to life.

"It's a story that reminds us that what you grow depends on what you're growing it in," Smillie says.

"As Mary transforms the garden, she herself is transformed, and she in turn transforms others."