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Tom's Midnight Garden

'Time no longer'

While Philip Pullman's anti-Christian tract draws in families to the National Theatre in London, it is good to know that some repertory companies are looking at less dark material for producing family entertainment.

The Birmingham Stage Company's adaptation of Philippa Pearce's Tom's Midnight Garden is a sheer delight. Now coming towards the end of its tour, the production is entrancingly staged and acted with a fitting mixture of youthful gusto and professional sensitivity.

Set in the 'good old days' of the middle of the 20th century before MMR, Tom is sent to stay with a caring but staid uncle and aunt, in order to avoid catching his brother's measles. The tale begins to be told as Tom writes home to the said brother.

Tom becomes fascinated by an old grandfather clock which stands in the hallway of his relatives' apartment, and discovers that when the clock strikes 13, the house reverts to a previous time in history. Here lonely Tom meets and develops a friendship with the equally lonely late-Victorian girl, Hattie.

Across the generations

It is a story about friendship and growing up. Both Tom and Hattie feel helpless in an adult world which misunderstands them. But in the end the story touchingly reveals how real relationships can be made across the years and the generations. Taking a child to see this will probably give them a completely new understanding of old people.

The place of the Bible in the story is intriguing. The face of the grandfather clock has the words 'Time no longer' engraved on it with a Scripture reference to Revelation 13.6 (in the Authorised Version).

Thus Tom is found with an open Bible fumbling towards an understanding of time in the context of eternity. Meanwhile, Abel, the gardener from mid-Victorian times, stands firmly on timeless biblical principles as he seeks to advise Hattie and is not less sympathetic for that.

Adapted for the stage by David Wood, this is a fantasy story which is wholesome, stimulating and genuinely heart-warming. If you get the opportunity and you can afford the time, this would make an excellent evening out for all parents and children.

Esme Shirt