Borrowers (tour)

Those cute tiny people are back! After thrilling children the world over at
bedtimes, exciting them on TV and thrilling them at the cinema – Watershed
productions invite you to spend an evening looking underneath the
floorboards at The Borrowers‘ minute but detailed lives.

Can Mary Morton’s 1950’s tale still appeal to children and adults alike on stage in 2002? Well, the children amongst the audience on the night this reviewer attended certainly seemed excited, although a late start
after technical problems did not endear the play to them immediately.

As
the tale of the little people unfolds, it becomes clear that this is a small
perfectly formed production, though there’s a danger of it being swamped in larger venues like The Lowry, more suited to big-budget, Disney-esque extravaganza.

The story remains intact. The Borrowers live under the floorboards in
harmony. There’s Pod (Nicholas Collett) the brave father, Homily (Susan
Jeffery) the home loving mother, and Arietty (Denise Hoey) the fearless young
daughter who longs to borrow as she is growing up fast. Up above this cosy
existence, inquisitive ‘giant’ minds threaten to uncover the secret lives of
the little folk and force them to move onto pastures new.

The sweet-natured essence of this classic tale translates well to the stage
but only in spades. In Chris Wallis‘ production, the sound seems out of sync with the action at times – something noticed and noted by the youngsters in the audience too – while the use
of actors as the giants shielded by a curtain separating them from The
Borrowers fails to convey the true sense of the piece. Many of the
children in the audience just don’t get it until well into Act II; a Tom and Jerry
approach, ie not seeing the adults but only their huge boots and legs, might have worked better.

That said, the individual performances are all convincing and very appealing. The puppetry and Judith Croft‘s multi-functional set also lend a sense of magic to proceedings and go down a storm with the audience – as an adult, the reaction from the stalls is a delicious reminder of how wonderful it must be to see theatre through a child’s eyes. From the tiny puppets to the
variety of animals that the Borrowers encounter on their travels, each item
is well imagined.

But ultimately this stage at least is too big and impersonal for Charles Way‘s adaptation, and it fails to ooze the warmth that you would expect. As a result, the cast appear lost and at times uncertain. Perhaps other venues further along in the production’s touring schedule will be kinder.

Overall, worth watching but don’t have BIG expectations as I did.

– Glenn Meads (reviewed at The Lowry in Salford)