Phoenix Theatre Company is performing the much-loved story of Ratty and Mole’s life on the riverbank next week.
The present-day adaptation of The Wind in the Willows is showing this week at the Daneside Theatre, Congleton. Kenneth Grahame’s story tells of the good-natured Mole losing patience with spring cleaning. He flees his underground home and ends up at the river, which he has never seen before. He meets Rat, actually a water vole, who takes Mole for a ride in his rowing boat. They get along, and spend days boating, with “Ratty” teaching Mole the ways of the river, the two friends living together in Ratty’s riverside home.
One summer day, Rat and Mole disembark near the grand Toad Hall and pay a visit to Toad. Toad is rich, jovial, friendly and kind-hearted, but arrogant, and becomes obsessed over hobbies, only to abandon them abruptly. His current craze is his horse-drawn caravan. When a passing car scares his horse and causes the caravan to overturn into a ditch, Toad’s craze for caravan travel is immediately replaced by an obsession with motorcars.
The classic novel is notable for its mixture of mysticism, adventure, morality and camaraderie, and celebrated for its evocation of the nature of the river banks – now with a modern and festive twist, and aimed at the whole family.
Follow Mole (Anna Burke), Ratty (Dan Hobson), Toad (Becky Evans) and Badger (David Burke) on their journey through riverside picnics, wild woods, jailbreaks, car chases and cross-dressing amphibians to save Toad Hall from disaster from the evil Weasel (Daniel Anderson) and his gang and get little Mole home.
Wind in the Willows runs until Saturday, 17th December.
A large cast of 32, consisting of families on stage together, will entertain audiences. Tickets (£10) are available from Congleton Information Centre in the town hall foyer, online at ticketsource.co.uk or at the box office from 6.30pm on performance days.
The production is directed by Beckie Morley, assisted by Hannah Brayford. Poop! Poop!
