Behind garden gates
Alluvion Stage Company’s last spring season show unlocks secrets
Reveal — “The Secret Garden” depicts a mysterious discovery, displays child-like curiosity and ends in redemption, according to director Linda Nell Cooper. Photo credit: Courtney Russo
As spring blossoms arrive, Alluvion Stage Company’s production of “The Secret Garden” opened on the Tower Theater stage Friday, April 17.
Based on the 1911 novel of the same name by Frances Hodgson Burnett, the story follows 11-year-old Mary Lennox, left an orphan as a result of the cholera epidemic that swept through India, as she returns to England to live with her reclusive Uncle Archibald and his invalid son Colin. She soon discovers a secret garden that is haunted by “dreamers,” which are spirits from her past that guide her through her new life.
Sophomore Tatiana Harman, who plays Mary Lennox, felt the addition of music to the story greatly enhanced the plot.
“The music adds a whole other element that the book doesn’t have,” Harman said. “It’s beautiful, haunting and hopeful. In the book, (the theme is) bringing new life into something that was dead, but in the musical it’s that plus learning how to work through the pain of loss and how to still love somebody even if they’re not there.”
Director Linda Nell Cooper said she chose the show for Alluvion because it fit with the company’s mission of performing shows that deal with redemption.
Other cast members echoed Harman and Cooper’s thoughts on the theme.
Remember — Archibald Craven, played by Timmy Williamson, discovered that his deceased wife’s garden had been unlocked and invaded by his niece and his son. Photo credit: Courtney Russo
“This story has such a message of hope and forgiveness that really aligns with what this school stands for,” Liberty theatre alumna Kathryn Williams, who plays Lily Craven, said. “Knowing when people leave us that they’re not really gone, what they taught us and the influence they’ve had on our lives will always be with us no matter where we go.”
Williams reflected upon the idea of someone’s memory forever affecting the lives of relatives, friends and acquaintances.
Others such as Liberty theatre alumnus Timmy Williamson, who plays Archibald Craven, related to this play as something that could help people suffering from a tough loss.
“Usually, you are holding onto something that causes … a hang-up in your life,” Williamson said. “There are a lot of people I know who are struggling with a loved one who has passed away and how they (are going to) move on. It’s important to remember that our identity can’t be in another person or material things. It has to be in Christ only.”
Williamson compared the musical’s theme to the freedom found in Christ.
“Looking at my own life and asking myself, ‘What is that one thing in my life I need to give over to God and say, I place this burden in your hands so I can live in freedom?’” Williamson said.
Although this story deals specifically with loss as a result of death, some cast members felt the theme could be applied in other circumstances as well.
“In this specific instance, (the loss) is definitely death, but it could also be if someone has moved into another season of life,” Williams said. “(The main idea is) the influence they had on you in a particular season in your life.”
Williamson related the theme to his graduation in May 2014.
“When I graduated, it was super hard to leave,” Williamson said. “I was with my friends for such a long time, but there was a point where I had to move on and say, ‘This is what God has for me now.’”
Although playing a young girl was a challenge for Harman, she enjoyed experiencing childlike faith.
“I love being a kid and seeing the world through a child’s eyes and seeing something so fresh and new coming to life.” Harman said. “It just reminds me so much of having faith like a child and that’s what our walk with God should be.”
The show runs through May 3. More information about the show and ticket sales can be found on Alluvion’s website, alluvionstage.com.
Maurer is a feature reporter.