Festive show not for the kids

THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS, Library Company, Lowry
I HAVE reviewed several versions of this Alan Bennett, Kenneth Grahame-derived show in recent years and in each case it hasn’t struck me as the sort of thing to which you wouldn’t take a child.

This time, you should leave anyone under 10 — possibly 12, unless they have read it — at home.

Wistful, nostalgic and wry aren’t words you normally associate with Christmas shows, but they fit perfectly here.

Bennett’s wry (see?) script embodies his nostalgic world view and conjures the rural, riverbank, messing-about-in-boats England of Grahame’s day, when there actually were some water rats.

When Nicholas Hytner directed the adaptation in 1990 he used lots of tricks, effects and star names to bring it to life, and it was a National Theatre Christmas hit for years.

Here Chris Honer directs the show like it works out of the box, without the need to add anything beyond a few talented actors and some music, and he is probably wrong to think so.

With barely a nod towards the young, and a pace that generally borders on that of driftwood, the show is enlivened mainly by the energy of Paul Barnhill as Toad, whose green wig and padding are the seat of a great silly laugh and broad gestures.

The other main characters seem to have been cast for their resemblance to other people: Christopher Wright (Rat) seems to be doing the late Nigel Hawthorne, while Sophie Gajewicz (Mole) has the round features and short haircut of Sue Perkins. The Churchillian voice of Robert Calvert’s Badger comes from a face that looks like Leonid Brezhnev’s.

The only other character to raise genuine laughs is the famously downbeat Albert the horse (Jason Furnival), but his depressive nature is supposed to be funny, as is his Brummie accent.

While the company seems to have misjudged the idea of Christmas children’s entertainment — if that is what is intended — this does have the potential to be charming, with its simple set and set-piece train, car and barge scenes.

The acting may be a little workmanlike and the pace low-key, but all the ingredients are basically there. They just need to be a lot bigger.