The Wind the Willows At The Lichfield Garrick Theatre Review

Reviewed by Lindsay Burton

In this sparkling Broadway adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s beloved classic, these unforgettable characters spring to life. In a quest for adventure, Mole leaves her underground life for the company of a kindly Water Rat, who takes her on a tour of the world. That world includes the eccentric and wealthy Mr. Toad, whose outrageous enthusiasm for life, and especially for motor cars, brings trouble for everyone. An old boxing champion, Mr. Badger, leads the team to victory against the belligerent Weasels to reclaim Toad’s ancestral home. Aside from being a story about animals with human characteristics, WIND IN THE WILLOWS is about the delicate balance among all living things, and the surpassing value of friendship.

I grew up with the Wind in the Willows and was very excited about sharing this beautiful tale with my own children so when I saw this show advertised, I simply had to take my three children to experience the tale of Mole, Ratty and Mr Toad.

What a fantastic little production! Regardless of some technical issues with microphone connections dipping in and out, the fantastic cast just continued doing their thing and it was a great evening for all. With the very talented Bethan Parri and Genevieve Richards playing Mole and Ratty, the story kicks off with a stage full of animals living their every day ordinary lives. The set design by Evie Frosdick was lovely and the extraordinary gifted band (Rob Murray, Alex Priestley, Mike Holt, Giacomo Aggas and Dave Shipley) was on stage for the duration of the show.

I was pleasantly surprised with the number of children in the cast, it was lovely to see so many different ages all working together for their community musical. Big massive shout out to Holly Rice who played Toad.
Bravo! Apart from having us all in stitches for most of the night, your unique portrayal of Toad has been the best I’ve seen by far. Nothing short of a west end performance from this lovely lady!! Your facial expressions were on point every single second! I could watch this show ten times over just to watch you alone!

Another talented group of people were those belonging to the weasel and stoat gang. I was super impressed but the gang leader, Chief Weasel Jayne Ison and her two right hand men. They brought just the right amount of mischief to the show and did a terrific job of being sly and up to no good! Their dancing was a great addition to this production.
Costumes by John Brooking were unique and well thought out. The show has an interval of about 20 minutes and both the first and second half are 55 minutes long.

I rate this show as 4/5 and I would recommend this to all ages, a lovely outing and very affordable prices with tickets starting from £15 and can be purchased from here. It shows until tomorrow night 19:30 so make sure you don’t miss this one if you want to enjoy the lovely community spirit in friendship!