The Secret Garden

Summer Season 2025 – on sale now

By Frances Hodgson Burnett

Adapted by Elizabeth Newman

When orphaned Mary Lennox comes to live at her uncle’s great house on the Yorkshire Moors, she finds it full of secrets. At night, she hears crying down one of the long corridors. She tracks it down to her cousin Colin, who has spent his entire life in bed, unable to walk.

One day, Mary finds a key that leads her to a garden held locked for years and completely overgrown. Mary and her friend Dickon nurse the garden back to life, bringing joy back to the house and those living there.

Elizabeth Newman’s new adaptation celebrates the power of transformation and healing through nature. The Amphitheatre is the perfect setting for one of the most delightful and enduring classics of children’s literature.

USEFUL INFORMATION

Venue: Amphitheatre (please note this is an outdoor venue located within Explorers Garden. Be prepared for all weathers.)

Directions to the Amphitheatre

From the Theatre car park please follow signs towards the Garden entrance.
Allow 5-10 minutes from Box Office to walk to the Amphitheatre.
Paths have varied inclines yet are fully accessible for anyone who requires a wheelchair, walker or buggy/pram.

Dates: 12 Jul – 22 Aug 2024

Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes, including a 20 minute interval

Ticket Info or call box office 01796 484626

If you wish to wander the seven-acre Explorers Garden before or after the performance, remember to purchase your ticket in advance; you’ll receive a 20% discount with an Amphitheatre ticket.

2024 Reviews

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Herald

“a life affirming meditation on grieving, loss and rediscovering a sense of wonder once all gates are open”

British Theatre Guide

“I shed a tear…It’s touching, effective and heart-warming.”

“Pitlochry has once again pitched this perfectly.”

Production Images

Three people hugging in an outdoor setting with trees in the background

Explorers Garden Entry

Explorers Garden Ticket 20% Discount

Add entry tickets to your basket when you book for The Secret Garden or Dido and Aeneas.

Explorers Garden 20% discount will be applied, just enter discount code Garden24

Explorers Garden Entry

2023 Reviews

“Pitlochry’s artistic director Elizabeth Newman has made her own new stage adaptation, one that glows from its opening moments with love for, and understanding of, the basic dynamics of Hodgson Burnett’s bold narrative.” The Scotsman

Creatives

Director Ben Occhipinti

Set Designer Nick Trueman

Costume Designer Natalie Fern

Composer and Sound Designer Ben Occhipinti

Cast

Mary Elizabeth Rowe

Colin Luke Thornton

Dickon David Rankine

Ben Oliver Cookson

Mrs Medlock Irene Allan

Robin Myles Miller

Martha Wendy Paver

Mr Craven Theo Diedrick

Elizabeth Rowe

Elizabeth Rowe

Elizabeth trained at Mountview on the Actor Musicianship course.

Theatre credits: Mighty Woman (Workshop for JAS Theatricals at Wonderville UK); Dick Whittington and His Cat and Goldilocks and the Three Bears (New Wolsey Theatre); Zelda (Workshop for Creative Rights International at The Umbrella Rooms); Dick Whittington (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre); One Man Two Guvnors (Nuffield Southampton Theatres); Oliver! With a Twist (Leicester Square Theatre and Underbelly Edinburgh); Jack and the Beanstalk (Queens Theatre Hornchurch); Fat Busters, the Musical (Workshop with Park Theatre); Pretty, Whitty Nell (Workshop with Rogue Shakespeare Company at Etcetera Theatre); Sinbad (New Wolsey Theatre); Made in Dagenham (Queens Theatre Hornchurch/New Wolsey Theatre); Jane Eyre (Jackson Lane); Touched (Bernie Grant Arts Centre); Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (Karamel Club). Elizabeth can also be seen performing with UK Fleetwood Mac as Christine McVie.
Luke Thornton

Luke Thornton

Luke is an Actor-Musician who trained at Rose Bruford College. He plays numerous instruments including drums, bass, guitar, and harmonica.

Theatre credits: Brief Encounter, Dick Whittington, Goldilocks (New Wolsey Theatre); Romeo & Juliet (440 Theatre Tour); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Scoot Theatre Tour); The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole the Musical, Aged 13 ¾, Love Letters (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch); Weapons of the Weak (The Other Palace); The Crucible, Summer Holiday (Pitlochry Festival Theatre); Midnight (Union Theatre); Summer Holiday (Octagon Theatre Bolton); Beauty and the Beast, The Panto That Nearly Never Was, Jack and the Beanstalk, Dick Whittington, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin (Theatr Clwyd); A Night at the Musicals (Welsh Musical Theatre Orchestra – Congress Theatre); Footloose (UK Tour); Dusty (Charing Cross Theatre); Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (London Palladium, Sunderland Empire) and The Cunning Little Vixen (Queen Elizabeth Hall).
David Rankine

David Rankine

David is an Aberdeen-born actor. He trained at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA).

Theatre Credits: The Fair Maid of the West (Royal Shakespeare Company), Kidnapped (National Theatre of Scotland); A Journey With Nan Shepherd (Firebrand Theatre Company); Rocket Post (Constellation Points); The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Helen Milne Productions/Perth Theatre and The Roald Dahl Story Company); The Tale of Typhoid Mary (A Play A Pie and A Pint); Bill McLaren: Fighting The Enemy (Firebrand); See You In Court (10 Feet Tall); Three Billion Swipes (National Theatre of Scotland/BBC Scotland); Do Not Press This Button (A Play, A Pie and A Pint ); Heritage, Blithe Spirit, The Crucible, Summer Holiday, Chicago and Quality Street (Pitlochry Festival Theatre), Aladdin and Snow White (Eden Court); The Last Witch (Firebrand Theatre Company/Pitlochry Festival Theatre); The Last Bordello (Fire Exit), Mischief (A Play, A Pie and A Pint); A Million Miles Away (Frozen Charlotte); Romeo and Juliet (Lodestar Theatre Company) and Over The Rainbow: The Eva Cassidy Story (UK Tour)

Film/Radio/TV Credits: Dog Squad (CBeebies) and Carry Me Home – A Ferry Tale (National Theatre of Scotland).
Oliver Cookson

Oliver Cookson

Oliver trained at The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama.

Theatre credits: Gypsy, The Secret Garden, A Streetcar Named Desire (Pitlochry Festival Theatre); Hay Fever, Hand to God, The Lady Killers (Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group – Assembly Roxy); Travels With My Aunt (Arkle Theatre Company); An Edinburgh Christmas Carol (Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh); and The Rose & Crown (Edinburgh Festival Fringe).
Irene Allan

Irene Allan

Irene trained at Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh and won The Stage Edinburgh Award for her performance in Coriolanus Vanishes.

Theatre Credits: Sleeping Beauty (Platform Theatre); Wilf (Traverse Theatre); I’m Dissolving My Love in a Bath of Acid, The Tale of Typhoid Mary Camino, The Persians (A Play, A Pie and a Pint – Oran Mor); The Silenced (Bunbery Banter), Pinocchio, Hansel and Gretel (Citizens Theatre), Red Dust Road (National Theatre of Scotland); Coriolanus Vanishes and Last Bordello (Fire Exit); Christmas Tales, The Crucible, Union and Living Quarters (Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh); Iron (Firebrand); Shirley Valentine, Bondagers (Byre Theatre); The Seer (Dogstar); Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (National Theatre) plus three seasons at Pitlochry Festival Theatre.

Film/Radio/TV Credits: To Janice (BFI Film Academy), Eye Exam (20th Digital Studio), The Cat, McLevy, Rebus, Black and Blue, Heart of Midlothian and For the Love of Willie (BBC R4) and Not Safe for Work (Channel 4).
Myles Miller

Myles Miller

Myles trained at Mountview in Performance in Actor Musicianship.

Theatre credits: Maid Marian and Her Merry Men: A New Musical* (*sort of) (workshop, Soho Theatre); Dick Whittington and his Cat (New Wolsey Theatre); Alice in Wonderland (Liverpool Everyman Playhouse); Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Leicester Curve and UK Tour) and Beauty and the Beast (Nottingham Playhouse).
Wendy Paver

Wendy Paver

Wendy trained at Rose Bruford College on the Actor Musician course.

Theatre credits: Footloose (UK Tour & Dubai); Cinderella (Hall For Cornwall); Ballad of Rudy (Tour & Chelsea Theatre, London); Singin’ In The Rain (UK Tour); Alice in the Walled Garden (London); Lady Windermere’s Fan, A Chorus of Disapproval, Hello Dolly, The Crucible, The Blonde Bombshells of 1943, North and South and Summer Holiday (Pitlochry Festival Theatre); The Wind in The Willows (Taunton Brewhouse); Dick Whittington (Stafford Gatehouse Theatre); Buddy vs The Killer (Wolverhampton Grand Theatre); The Young Ones, The Mysterie of Maria Marten and A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (Queens Theatre Hornchurch); Anthems and Chess (Royal Albert Hall); Jack and the Beanstalk (Theatre at the Mill); Dreamboats & Petticoats (Savoy Theatre and Playhouse Theatre, West End & UK Tour); Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story (Duchess Theatre, West End & UK Tour) and Return to the Forbidden Planet (Basingstoke Haymarket & UK Tour).

Other work: Ladbrokes (Commercial); Winterset (Theatre Royal Haymarket) and W@RN Theatre Company touring a show about domestic violence (Regional Tour).
Theo Diedrick

Theo Diedrick

Theo trained at Guildford School of Acting, where he was the winner of the 2022 Timothy West and Prunella Scales Actors Speech Prize. Footloose is his debut performance at Pitlochry Festival Theatre.

Theatre credits: Sleeping Beauty: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto (Theatr Clwyd); Once and The True Adventures of Marian and Robin Hood (The Barn Theatre); RuneSical (Edinburgh Festival Fringe); As You Like It, The Baker’s Wife and Into the Woods (Guildford School of Acting).

Other work: W.E.B. Du Bois in a reading of new play, Recognition and a commercial for Wagamama.

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THE SECRET GARDEN

The Secret Garden