Toad on the Wolds – East Riding Theatre, Beverley

Writer: Gordon Meredith

Director: Richard Avery

Richard Avery, now Artistic Director of East Riding Theatre, has a long-standing affection for The Wind in the Willows and the presence of Toad in the Christmas schedules should come as no surprise, but it’s a rather different Toad from usual. Gordon Meredith was tasked with developing a new story andToad on the Woldsis a neat combination of Kenneth Grahame’s characters with East Riding’s home base.

Toad is back in prison, with the Washerwoman again in cheerful attendance and the Chief Weasel, aided by a couple of ferrets, enforcing discipline. It being an accepted fact that all weasels are corrupt, the arrival of a letter from Toad’s Uncle Croaker with news of a pirate hoard at his residence Toad Manor sets off not only Toad’s journey north (he escapes via a hole dug by his burrowing friend Mole), but a counter-move by weasels to secure the treasure.

The problem is that the second sheet of the letter, giving directions, is missing and, when the intrepid travellers (actually Mole is a bit trepid) arrive at a dilapidated Toad Manor, they find that Uncle Croaker has, well, croaked and they don’t know where to look. But a search of the prison has found the paper and Chief Weasel has despatched a minion with it to his cousin Wesley Weasel who just happens to represent the Wolds Council and has slapped a compulsory purchase order on Toad Manor.

It all unfolds with a mixture of clues found on assorted bits of paper and, rather unexpectedly, a comedic citing of council by-laws and the Protected Species Act: the whole thing happens in a sort of no man’s date with elements of 1908 and 2023. The dialogue slips in the odd reference to the original novel and a few traditional gags (“How do you tell the difference between a weasel and a stoat?”) and rattles along at a good pace, constantly cross-cutting from one group of characters to another.

The animals, fairly lightly made up, carry on the Grahame tradition. Hannah Levy is delightfully bumptious as Toad and Alice Palmer a stickler for fair play as Ratty and also blessed with a stratospheric soprano (the music generally is not among the glories of the production). Alison Shaw (Mole) is torn between delight, excitement and fear and Malcolm Tomlinson (Badger) takes charge with due solemnity.

The remaining five players take on anything from two to four parts and all fit in perfectly with the fun aspect of the production. Clive Kneller (Chief Weasel/Wesley) moves from an incompetent Dickensian jailer to a sort of cross between bureaucrat and melodrama villain. Alice Gold’s Washerwoman becomes the Housekeeper at Toad Manor, gleefully setting off booby traps to catch the unwary. Neil King’s run of parts includes a Moore Marriott-like prisoner, Peter McMillan plays the straight man to Kneller as well as portraying two distinct otters and stage debutant Will Anderson makes the most of fairly limited opportunities.

Emily Clay’s set design works neatly across two levels on the limited stage space which doesn’t seem to impede Richard Avery’s infectious production.

Runs until 31st December 2023