By Rae Hunt
As a reviewer for Front Row Reviewers, it was a delightful pleasure to watch Timpanogos Valley Theater’s production of The Secret Garden. This rendition of the classic storybook novel, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, is a story of a girl orphaned when her parents catch cholera and pass away, leaving her to the care of her estranged hunchback uncle, Archibald Craven (Nathan Moulton). Mary (Mayla King) has largely been neglected by her socialite parents (Quinn Bennion and Liz Crittenden) and somehow escapes the plague and is found by soldiers after everyone else has been removed. As her uncle is the only known relative, she is sent to live with him. Mary often spends her days with Martha her maid (Mary Eckersley), Ben Weatherstaff the gardener (Gary Harter), and Dicken (Grant Rigby) who often comes to the gardens to play with the animals. Through them, Mary learns the story of how her Aunt Lily (Joni Olson) fell in love with Archibald Craven and together they had a beautiful garden that has since been sealed away forever. Mary becomes determined to find the garden, certain that it must be a magical place but the garden isn’t the only secret this house holds. As she passes her time at her uncle’s house, she comes to discover a boy also lives there. Colin (Andrew Reynolds) is the son of Lily and Archibald but due to the circumstances of his birth where his mother passed away, it is believed that he is crippled and sickly, likely to die. He is often in the care of Archie’s brother Dr. Neville Craven (Stephen Reynolds) who believes that spending time with Mary will only harm the boy. He would rather Mary be sent off to a school where she can’t cause problems for him or her cousin. Will Mary be able to help her cousin Colin get better through finding and caring for the Garden or will Dr. Craven have his way and send her away to a school for girls?
King is the perfect Mary Lennox. From being spoiled and willful to being caring with her cousin and determined to save the garden, this role has many challenging aspects. King is believable and draws you in with her characterization. Her choreography is also very challenging and has her running up and down stairs, through gardens, and spinning around through dreams and memories. Not only does she have a large amount of dialogue but remembering all these steps and scenes is extremely impressive. She really enjoys the story and working with the cast and it shows in her performance.
Reynolds as her cousin Colin Craven is portrayed equally well. This young boy is convincing as a child who truly believes he’s going to die. Reynolds pulls off Colin’s ranting and behavior exceptionally well. This is a difficult role to get right and he delivers. The journey of being a lonely child convinced his illness is all that he has to look forward to. He is able to show the lightness of his character as he recovers because of his friendship with Mary and the secret magical garden. His personality reflects throughout the performance.
Archibald Craven feels strongly about the story being one of learning how to heal from trauma and from grief and this is reflected in the conviction of Moulton portrays Archibald. With the story frequently highlighting the spirits of the past as different situations invoke those memories, this is very much the characters reliving and learning to heal from situations that still haunt them. Moulton himself, is a rich and vibrant actor. His voice is absolutely wonderful and soothing and his dialogue delivered withcertainty . Archie’s wife Lily Craven (Joni Olson) appears in the play only as a spirit as she passed on well before the start of the story. You can easily see the devotion Lily has for Archie. Olson’s sings beautifully and I love how frequently her character appears to watch over the rest of the cast, keeping an eye on Colin and helping guide Mary find her garden. She’s so poised and elegant and I was sad that she’s only there in spirit and unable to interact with anyone else again.
Reynolds as Dr. Neville Craven tackles a complicated character who was once in love with Lily, though she did not return his affections. After her death in childbirth, Dr. Craven now devotes himself to the care of her child. Reynolds excellently delivers a character who’s jealousy for his brother is preventing him from sharing what could be good relationships with his brother or his nephew. In a duet with Archie, he is relatably human and you feel his own personal loss that he is still not at grips with.
Eckersley as the estimable Martha along with Rigby playing Dicken help guide Mary from being a disagreeable, spoiled child to being one full of hope and cheer. Rigby especially is infectious in his role. His accent is spot on and believable and he’s so cheerful and helpful, especially when helping Mary explore the garden or communicate with the animals.
Ben Weatherstaff is an excellent supporting character. He works with Mary and Dicken to help grow the garden. Harter in this role is jovial, though he is hesitant to break the rules set by Archibald that the garden should remain sealed and no one to set foot in it again. Once Mary has found the garden however, he reveals he’s been trying to keep the garden well kept as that is what Lily requested. Harter shines when he is talking about his plants and how to care for them.
Other supporting cast, Mrs. Medlock, played by Loertscher, Crittenden as Mary’s mother/ haughty socialite Rose Lennox, and Mary’s father Captain Albert Lennox played by Bennionare fantastic as they shape the life Mary experiences. Mrs Medlock only has a few appearances and usually to help show Mary where she is supposed to be. She is chatty but also respectful of her position in the Craven household. Mary’s parents are concerned with position and status, and snippets show Rose chastising her sister for picking a hunchback for a husband. This is a subtle message conveying her character’s desire for status and prominence in society. Once she is gone, however there are moments that her spirit comes to watch over Mary and you can feel her concern for her child as she tries to find her place in her new home.
The technical aspects are lovely. The set design (Gary Harter) is creative, a lovely balcony that helps characters move about and the use of arches in the garden that are choreographed to move into different configurations to convey expanses of garden that characters explore and move through. This way of making the garden feel large is one of my favorite parts of this play. The costumes (Jolene Munford, Ellen Eckersly-Hair and Makeup Amy Asay) are amazing and authentic to the time period. Mary has several different outfits and each one is charming and personable to the character. Sound Engineer Jessica Wall, Tech Director Caleb Wall, and Lighting Electrician Brenna Wall round out TVT‘s The Secret Garden to make the production flawless.
With all the talent this cast and crew devote to this production, Timpanogos Valley Theater’s The Secret Garden is one show we don’t want to keep secret. Hurry to get tickets to this amazing show.
Timpanogos Valley Theater presents The Secret Garden, script and lyrics are by Marsha Norman, with music by Lucy Simon.
Timpanogos Valley Theater, 90 N 100 W, Heber City, UT 84032
April 14 – 29, 2023, 7:00 PM, See site for individual performance details.
Tickets: $12 – $17 depending on seating, ages or group rates.
Contact: 435-654-2125
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