CAST LIST
Mary Lennox ………………
Madison Galea
Archibald Craven
……….. Greg Pascoe
Lily ………………………………
Rosemary Cocklin
Dr. Neville Craven
………. Nicholaus Linton
Colin Craven ……………….
Eadie Milne
Martha ……………………….
Olivia Boscolo
Dickon ………………………..
Liam Tran
Rose Lennox ……………….
Rebecca McAliece
Albert Lennox …………….
Timothy Francis
Mrs. Medlock …………….
Joanna Mattox
Ben Weatherstaff
-------- Ben Lawrence
Ayah …………………………..
Jade Theckston
CHORUS
Calum Hay
Daniel Pitts
Greg
Claringbold
Jack Smith
Jake Keratianos
Amy Weir
Briony Smith
Cathy Boscolo
EmilyClare
Cousins
Jess Ryan
Kate Taylor
Shandar Storm
REHERSALS
WILL START ON SUN 2ND AUGUST
Mary Lennox is a very troubled, sickly and unloved 10-year-old
girl who was born in India to selfish, wealthy British parents who never wanted her and were too wrapped up in their own lives
to love or care about her. She was taken care of primarily by servants, who pacified her as much as possible to keep her out
of her parents' way. Spoiled and selfish, she is aggressive, surly, rude and obstinate. Later, there is a cholera epidemic which hits India and kills her parents and all the servants. She is discovered alone but alive after the house is
empty. She briefly lives with an English clergyman and his family and is then sent to Yorkshire, England, to live with Archibald Craven, an uncle she has never met, at his home called Misselthwaite Manor.
At first,
Mary is her usual self, sour and rude, disliking her uncle's large house, the people within it and most of all the vast stretch
of moor, which seems scrubby and grey after the winter. She is told that she must stay confined to her two rooms and that nobody will bother much with her and she must amuse herself. Martha Sowerby, her good-natured maidservant, tells Mary a story of the late Mrs. Craven, and how she would spend hours in a private walled garden growing roses. Later, Mrs. Craven was killed by sitting in a tree and the branch broke, and Mr. Craven had the garden locked and the key buried. Mary is roused by this story and starts to soften
her ill manner despite herself. Soon she begins to lose her disposition and gradually comes to enjoy the company of Martha,
Ben Weatherstaff the gardener, and also that of a friendly robin redbreast to whom she attaches human qualities. Her appetite increases and she finds herself getting stronger as she plays by herself on the moor.
Martha's mother buys Mary a skipping rope to encourage this, and she takes to it immediately. Mary's time is occupied by wondering
about the secret garden and a strange crying sound that can sometimes be heard around the house which the servants ignore
or deny.
As Mary is exploring the gardens, she is alerted to some turned up soil by the inquisitive robin, and finds
a key belonging to the locked garden, and, next day, the door into the garden. She chances to ask Martha for garden tools,
which Martha has delivered by Dickon, her twelve-year-old brother. Mary and Dickon take a liking to each other, as Dickon
has a soft way with animals and a good nature. Eager to absorb his gardening knowledge, Mary lets him into the secret of the garden, which he agrees to keep.
That night, Mary hears the
crying again. She follows the noise and, to her surprise, finds a small boy her age, living in a hidden bedroom. His name
is Colin and she discovers that they are cousins: he is the son of her uncle; his mother died when he was a baby, and he suffers
from an unspecified problem with his spine. Mary visits every day that week, distracting him from his troubles with stories
of the moor, of Dickon and his animals and of the garden. It is decided he needs fresh air and the secret garden, to which
Mary finally admits she has access. Colin is put into his wheelchair and brought outside into the garden, the first time he's
been outdoors in years.
While in the garden, the children are surprised to see Ben Weatherstaff looking over the wall
on a ladder. Startled and angry to find the children there in his late mistress' (Colin's mother's) garden he admits he believed
Colin to be a cripple. Colin stands up out of his chair to prove him wrong and finds that his legs are fine, though weak from
not using them for a long time.
Colin spends every day in the garden, becoming stronger. The children conspire to keep
Colin's health a secret so he can surprise his father, who is travelling and mourning over his late wife. As Colin's health
improves, his father's mood does as well, and he has a dream of his wife calling him into the garden that makes him immediately
pack his bags and head home. He walks the outer wall in memory but hears voices inside, finds the door unlocked and is shocked
to see the garden in full bloom with children in it and his son running around. The servants watch as Mr. Craven walks back
to the manor, and all are stunned that Colin runs beside him.
