5 STARS, July 20 – August 20. Jane McGowan enjoys a fabulous new adaptation of the classic children’s story The Borrowers at Wimbledon’s Polka Theatre
Mary Norton’s The Borrowers is consistently voted one of the most popular children’s books of all time. I absolutely loved the stories when I was young, so was eager to see how the tale would play out on stage. I was not disappointed. The clever people at the Polka Theatre have done a wonderful job in bringing to life the tale of the family who live beneath the floorboards.
Pod, Homily and Arrietty Clock are Borrowers – a race of tiny people who ‘borrow’ from ‘human beans’ in order to survive. This particular family resides under a large country house which is home to the busybody housekeeper Mrs Driver, the rough and ready gardener Crampfurl and the mysterious Boy, who is recuperating in England after being taken ill in India. Pod is a very hard working and successful Borrower but one day he is spotted by the Boy, forcing Pod and Homily to tell their teenage daughter what really lies above their sky.
Beautifully adapted by Charles Way, this production is an amalgam of several of the books and was a magnificent retelling, capturing the humour, suspense and wonder of the original tales. When we meet the Borrowers the family of three is living in subterranean harmony – but, as anyone with a teenager in the house knows, there comes a time when you have to let your child sample life for themselves, no matter how risky it may be. Arrietty Clock is just like any 14-year-old and is desperate to spread her wings beyond her matchbox bunk. The teenage angst and need for independence was perfectly captured by Charlotte Dubery, whose curiosity and recklessness-of-youth attitude eventually lead to the family being forced to flee their comfortable home for a life of danger in the meadow.
The cast were uniformly superb with Will Howard, Emma Keele and Troy Glasgow playing multiple parts splendidly – some to great comic effect!
The interaction with the ‘human beans’ is truly magical and my nine-year-old daughter actually gasped as the lifesize Arrietty was seamlessly replaced by a miniature, puppet-version of herself. The puppets and actors work seamlessly throughout adding to the wonder and enchantment of Verity Quinn’s clever set.
And just to mention, we saw the production as what is called a ‘relaxed performance’ designed to accommodate audience members who may have additional needs – the lights in the auditorium are left dimmed, people are free to come and go during the performance and the theatre staff point out in advance when the production may get scary or noisy. It is an absolutely brilliant idea that many venues are now adopting to make theatre accessible for more people.
This is a fantastic production and if you haven’t already taken your children to the Polka Theatre, then The Borrowers offers the perfect opportunity – a school holiday must!
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