Errol's Garden is a fun children's musical that follows 10-year old Errol and his younger 7-year old sister Tia, as they rally their neighbours to create a community garden on their apartment rooftop. With book, music and lyrics by Caroline Wigmore and Jen Green, and directed by Kate Golledge, Errol's Garden is a heartwarming story about the power of perseverance, passion and community spirit.
The cast compromises of Hari Kanabar (Errol) and Olivia Williamson (Tia) who both also multirole as various neighbours. Williamson perfectly captures the mannerisms of a young child, adding her own blend of fascination and mischief. Williamson also brings humour to their neighbour Scary Mary as a dramatic detective, Missy as a stressed University student, and the strict Mrs. Higgins. Kanabar brings such warmth and joy to the show as Errol, and his energetic performance keeps the young audience entertained and engaged. His portrayal of their neighbours, Joe the runner and the kind Mr. Higgins are equally engaging.
The music is catchy and peppy, with recurring themes that will have the audience nodding and clapping along to. With musical direction by Josh Sood, the frequent songs help condense larger portions of the story, such convincing the neighbours to contribute to the Garden. Standout songs include a particularly hilarious freestyle rap about snails eating, and an inspiring reminder to rebuild and grow.
The musical breaks the fourth wall, with the audience being referred to as the new neighbour, and includes audience participation to help think of solutions to problems. There's also a rather fun search of the auditorium to find hidden toy snails, and a dance along finale. These moments fill the room with even more joy, and could be used more throughout the musical as it currently occurs in the last fifteen or so minutes.
The set (Isobel Nicholson) has a beautiful painted backdrop, and uses several stacked grey boxes to help set scenes. Used as storage, furniture and props, the grey boxes are an efficient way to set scenes. Strung rubbish and growable plants and large tentacles (Olivia Racionzer) are also used well to further enhance the set. Plants adorn the stage and increasingly appear from the grey boxes. The lighting and sound (Holly Ellis and Ella Wahlström) provide a warm glow and atmosphere and help animate the stage further.
The musical is filled with many good ideas and valuable lessons that makes Errol's Garden not only entertaining, but also educational. Mentions of reusing old rubbish to help repot plants, the mental and physical health benefits of growing plants, teamwork and community spirit amongst others are great themes dotted throughout that could be elaborated on further than passing comments.
Errol's Garden is a heartwarming and wholesome musical that entertains, educates and engages with younger audiences. Filled with joy, glee and community spirit, it's a wonderfully imaginative garden with seeds of thought and action planted in the audience. It is currently a touring production, for more information and tickets, you can follow the link here.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | photography by Danny Kaan
Comments