The Wind in the Willows

Cloth napkins and rowing boats, private property and picnics - to watch The Wind in the Willows is to catch a slice of England when motor cars were a novelty and gentlemen wore hats. This production embodies this reassuringly cosy country life perfectly; all is exactly as it should be, there are no shocks or surprises. Every character is portrayed as larger than life; none more so than the irrepressible Toad, played to great comic effect by Robert Reeve.
Ratty is nagging and worrisome while wise old Badger tries to steal the friendship of little Mole. The weasels, replete in top hats and puttees, snigger and grimace behind the hedgerows as they hatch their plans and steal rabbit children from the sleeping arms of their mothers.
The stage is small yet there is never the feeling of overcrowding. The cast moves effortlessly across, around and behind each other under the superb direction of Penny Tuerk. Toad’s caravan, his motor car, a barge, a train and a boat all appear, complete with honking horns and steam, all disappearing in and out of the branches of weeping willow on each side of the stage. The National Theatre’s production of this show in the mid-1990s over three successive Christmas is etched on my mind, and made me think that this play is best seen in winter. Yet this performance shows that The Wind in the Willows actually makes rather a good summer play.
The dappled patterns of the riverside trees, the climactic garden party at Toad Hall and Ratty’s messing about on the river, all evoke the lazy days of the summer (wherever they may be).
So before you set off on your holidays get in the mood of the season and go and see this play.