Rachael Kenward and her children enjoy an early evening of family theatre at one of Bath’s most beautiful venues
We’ve just returned from a wonderful outdoor theatre experience – watching The Garden Theatre production of Wind in the Willows at the American Museum and Gardens. We were lucky enough to have a perfect summer’s evening as the sun shone and set over the stunning gardens, and a packed crowd of all ages brought picnics and blankets, creating a lovely atmosphere where grandparents and tiny people were equally at home and enthralled.
My five-year-old, nine-year-old and I enjoyed the experience in equal measure. The five-year-old particularly enjoyed the silly humour of Toad who got laughs from plenty of adults too! My 9-year-old squealed with delight at the water that was squirted at us near the end during the battle for Toad Hall and I relished the chance to sit on a blanket on a beautiful summer’s evening cuddling up with my little ones while laughing and being entertained with a story familiar to both me and them.
We arrived in plenty of time to get a good spot on the grass – we were in the second row! Parking was free and straight forward, and plenty of friendly staff were available to welcome us. The American Deli served us ice creams, cake and canned wine from their food van, all of which were delicious.
The show itself was engaging and fun, full of songs that told the story and entertained. There was a 15-month-old behind us who stayed on his picnic blanket for the whole show, thoroughly entertained and engaged – and past his bedtime too I was told!
The show was over two hours, including a 20-minute interval. Wind in the Willows is a favourite in our household and my nine-year-old was happy that the show was true to the original story. The characters interacted with the audience before and throughout the show, walking amongst the crowd before it started offering high-fives and vain requests for a share of the picnics.
The Chief weasel evem snatched my daughter’s pen out of her hand and wrote his ‘autograph’. She was very amused by this, and it contributed to feeling a part of the show. During the show we were invited to sing along, play a call and response game and shout “he’s-behind-you” panto-style.
There was a big reveal at the end of the show announcing next year’s production would be The Jungle Book… My kids have already told me we must go.
