Anybody who starts reading for pleasure at an early age will almost certainly have read Swallows and Amazons. It is a book which has gone into the cultural lexicon and given the themes of imagination and values, deservedly so. Aristotle noted that whereas pain was nature’s defense against physical harm so shame was our natural defense against moral harm. That being so, like another natural propensity shared by all people, that for language, it is something that has to be taught. So when we see John being devastated by the awfully beastly label, ‘liar’, we see a boy who has already absorbed, by introjection, some of the moral norms of his culture. Similarly when the children are falsely accused of theft there is a sense of dismay shared by all which comes not merely from a sense of injustice, but also from an awareness of the seriousness of the alleged crime. Above all however this is a play about the power of imagination.
Helen Edmunson’s script sucks the marrow from the book whilst Tom Morris’s direction (revived in this production by Pieter Lawman), spreads it across the stage in a dazzling display of theatrical ingenuity. It is as imaginative in its staging as the story is in its mapping of the inner terrain of a group of children given the whole world as their life’s stage. The whole world in this case being the Lake District around Windermere and Coniston Water, a world populated by bloodthirsty pirates, cannibals and barbarians and where, as the song has it, ’Every tree a forest, every rock a mountain range’. The production captures and conveys the sense of excitement and adventure of young people faced on the one hand with the possibilities of things and the inevitable realities of life on the other.
The added delight in this stage adaptation is that, in a similar way to Dennis Potter’s, Blue Remembered Hills, we have adults playing children with here the adults as the enemy. The cast, without exception rally to the cause: Tom Bennett’s Roger, so eager to grow up and be important, Bethan Nash’s oh so sensible and grown up Susan, Jennifer Higham’s very modern Titty, every bit as adventurous as the next boy and finally Stuart Mclaughlin’s grown-up-before-his-time, John. Then, breezing across their bows the Blackett girls, Peggy and Nancy (Millie Corser and Evelyn Miller) full of elemental spirits and a delightful kick up the backside for the Walker clan.
The whole production is a perfect storm of acting, directing, design, lighting and music. Neil Hannon’s engaging music and seamlessly fitting lyrics give that extra dimension which help lift this production out of the very good into the exceptional. This is five star entertainment for any one who is or ever has been a child with an imagination and is itself a perfect treasure to lock away in your hoard of memories.
(The show was preceded by St Peter’s Primary choir who gave a perfect performance of their competition-winning, sea-themed song, ‘A Drop in the Ocean’) ★★★★★ Graham Wyles 3/12/14
Photos by Simon Annand
