Reviewed by James Karas
The Wind in the Willows is the Shaw Festival’s production aimed at entertaining young audiences. The story has a redoubtable pedigree starting as a novel by Kenneth Grahame published in 1908 and adapted by A.A. Milne in 1929 as a play called Toad of Toad Hall. The book and the play were resoundingly successful and Fiona Sauder has adapted the play for the Shaw Festival’s current season. She has used the original title of The Wind in the Willows rather than Toad of Toad Hall.
The audience seemed to take the production and performances in stride without expressing pronounced enthusiasm. The play is clearly intended for younger audiences and the evening that I saw it, the audience was made up largely of senior citizens with a good number of youngsters.
It is a story about animals set in a forest in Berkshire, England. The central character is Toad (Lawrence Libor), a boisterous and very energetic character who gets in trouble by stealing a car and driving it recklessly. He is arrested, tried and sent to prison for twenty years.
There are twelve actors seven of whom play animals and the rest represent humans. My problem was that I did not recognize some of the animals at all and had small acquaintance with some others. The notable animals aside from Toad are Badger (Shawn Wright). Mole (Gabriella Sundar Singh), Rat (Sharry Flett) and Weasel (Matt Alfano). Ferret (Jacqueline Thair) and Stoat (Sara Farb) are supporting creatures. That is a motley group of creatures that are played in colourful ways by the actors.
Photo by Michael Cooper.
Wright’s Badger is serious and wise, Singh’s Mole has a squeaky voice, Flett’s Rat is the quiet type and Alfano’s Weasel is loud and aggressive especially when he appears as a rabbit and his pedigree is questioned.
On the human side, Qasim Khan plays the comical Judge in robes and a wig and presides at the trial of Toad. Jaden Kim plays the young girls Marigold who runs into the forest and Phoebe. Graeme Kitagawa plays the Usher, Allison McCaughey plays the nurse and Washerwoman, Taurian Teelucksingh plays Alfred. The entire cast plays in the Ensemble as the plays requires such as a choir and other parts.
Sauder directed the play and she generated some energy especially in the scenes with Libor who had more energy than most of the others put together. He played for laughs and got a few.
The ensemble runs across the stage holding branches of willow to set the scene as called for by the title. I did not see much of wind. The stage was covered by what seemed like large white leaves and there were blankets on the ground for hiding. There are a few props on the stage for sitting.
What I wondered while watching the production was the reason for Artistic Director Carroll choosing it. No one questions its popularity in England for more than a hundred years. How does that make it speak to young and old alike in Canada? I don’t know what a Stoat is, and I have a vague idea of what a weasel, a mole, a ferret and a badger are. Do all of these animals exist in Canada? My ignorance aside, could everyone in the audience relate to them?
No one expected crisp English accents from
the dozen actors and no one got them. Toad stole a “motor car” which is no doubt
what it was so called in 1908 and 1929 but now it is called a car. There may
well be people who were brought up on Grahame’s
and Milne’s work and recognize animals that can be found in Berkshire and not
in Canada but I doubt there are many.
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The Wind in the Willows based on the play Toad of Toad Hall by A.A. Milne adapted by Fiona Sauder will run in repertory until September 27, 2026, at the Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre as part of the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. www.shawfest.com.
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