The Stage

The Wind in the Willows

Published Monday 28 November 2011 at 11:39 by Julie Watterston

In opposing ways, this is a surprising yet obvious choice of adaptation for the Watermill’s ingenuity. Surprising because it is more narrative than action leaving the characters to verbally describe their dreams and fears rather than live through them - with Toad incarcerated in a glass jar and exaggerating his imprisonment rather than living through it, for example. Yet it is obvious because it gives director Robin Belfield the challenge to produce a significant piece of theatre stamped with the Watermill’s unique creativity. But does it work?

Jack Beale, Naomi Sheldon and Lauren Storer in The Wind in the Willows at the Watermill, Bagnor, Newbury (previous picture shows Howard Coggins) Photo: Phillip Tull

The music by Simon Slater comprises mostly tranquil compositions which load the production with a peaceful serenity and Hayley Grindle’s design does an inconsequential job which, nevertheless, is practical on the small stage.

The show has an ominous thread, lightened mostly by the actors’ distinctive characterisations of the animals - Steve Watts is refined as the gruff and wise Badger, Philip Buck is enthusiastic and sociable as Ratty, Naomi Shelton is the mild-mannered Mole and Howard Coggins is effervescent as the conceited and impertinent Toad. The cast is ably supported in a number of roles by Lauren Storer and Jack Beale.

The adaptation cleverly incorporates some of the author’s subplots which we are rarely aware exist, yet the show on the whole lacks the assurance of a production which embraces the story with wholehearted commitment.