A famous children’s classic, The Wind In the Willows certainly needs no introduction. As a child, Badger, Mole, Ratty and Toad were familiar faces as they appeared regularly in a stop-motion series that was screened weekly on TV. Those of you who are of my vintage, I’m sure you remember this show and its iconic theme song! I can still hum the tune in its entirety, though the lyrics now elude me.
I have yet to introduce these well-loved characters to my children, so I was happy to get the opportunity when the stage production of The Wind in the Willows arrived in town for a short run.
Set in the old English countryside, the tale opens with Mole abandoning his spring cleaning to explore the riverbank. He meets Rat, and the two of them form an immediate friendship. Through Rat, Mole also gets to know Badger and the irrepressible (and very rich) Mr Toad. The story follows the foursome through their adventures and misadventures, which comes to a head when Toad becomes enamoured of cars and steals one. This is his undoing as he gets arrested and sentenced to jail. In the time he is away, his palatial home, Toad Hall, is also taken over by animals from the Wild Woods. Will Toad escape his 20 year sentence? And what will become of Toad Hall?
I personally took great delight in this production. The Wind in the Willows is so very English, and I, having grown up on a diet of English writing (hello Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl and AA. Milne!) found it very nostalgic. I have only a very vague impression of the storyline of The Wind in The Willows from my childhood and watching the show brought the story back to me, but with the greater clarity and deeper understanding now as an adult.
But while that was the case for me, the show was a bit beyond my children. It is recommended for children aged 5 and up, but I would say that this show might really be better appreciated by children aged 8 and above. It was a bit challenging for 6-going-on-7 year old Noey to follow without my regular explanations, and my 4-year old little Mei was completely lost. This was because there was plenty of dialogue to follow of the quaint, proper old English variety. It was a pleasure to me, but it was difficult for my children to understand, especially when delivered briskly with unfamiliar British accents. The production was also a tad sophisticated for them, requiring the audience to imagine settings like Toad’s gypsy caravan and motor car, and later the steam engine on which Toad makes his escape to Toad Hall with the barest of props. Indeed, I felt that the characters themselves could have been made a little more identifiable so that the children would have been able to better relate to Badger and Mole, Ratty and Toad.
That said, while my children did not fully follow, they were not bored. Some young children in the audience did get restless but mine stayed engaged till the end. Noey even anxiously hurried me back into the theatre after the interval because he didn’t want to miss any of the second act. We more than enjoyed the many songs which were weaved into the production and my favourite was “The Open Road”, which also had my little daughter bouncing along in her seat. The kids were also delighted to learn a new word: “NINCOMPOOP!” (That used to be a favourite of mine as well!) And they really liked the characters, especially the impulsive yet admittedly funny, arrogant yet generous Toad.
I’m glad the show has piqued their interest in this old classic and on our way out, we stopped by the book stand run by Closetful of Books and bought two copies of The Wind in the Willows: An Usbourne Young Reading version with CD for Mei and the complete and unabridged version for Noey. This will be our bedtime reading in the nights to come.
The Wind in the Willows
Ticketing and Show Information
Season: 12 June to 14 June 2015
Venue: School of the Arts (SOTA)
Performance Times: Fri 5pm, Sat 2pm, 5pm and 7.30pm, Sun 10.30am, 2pm and 5pm
Ticket Prices: $62, $52, $42
Duration: 1 hr 45 mins (with 15 min interval)
Booking: At Sistic counters, at sistic.com.sg or by calling 6348-5555
*We were provided tickets to the show for the purpose of this review. All photos used in this post are courtesy of ABA Productions. All opinions remain, as always, my own.
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