The Wind in the Willows is Australia’s best-loved affordable family entertainment with plenty of songs, laughs and surprises for the whole family to enjoy.
Now in its 37th year, the Australian Shakespeare Company’s outdoor family theatre event is back, recreating Kenneth Grahame’s beloved characters from The Wind In The Willows to life.
The lakeside stage within Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens is the perfect summer setting, where families and large groups can roll out the picnic rug and enjoy the fully-immersive show.
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Little ones will be immediately transfixed as the Head Chief Rabbit wanders in, setting the scene and transforming the audience themselves into rabbits, with the waggle of ears and a wiggle of the nose. Paul Morris’ pesky Weasel soon joins in, as one of the standout performers, showcasing some impressive guitar skills and jokes that even adults will giggle at (craving some guaca-mole-y).
The ensemble cast grew quickly, using clever stage craft to make each introduction a surprise, whether planting characters in the crowd or arriving by boat on the lake itself.
There was a good mix of songs and crowd participation to keep everyone on their toes, including a great medley of popular song covers, particularly Badger’s Back (to the tune of AC/DC’s Back In Black).
Midway through the entire crowd had to follow the cast to a new setting, which was great to keep some of the younger kid’s from losing interest. This led to the Great Hall, home of the animated Mr. Toad, who quickly became a crowd favourite with campy tunes (Let It Toad, for all the Frozen fans) and cheesy jokes (RAT test anyone?).
Unfortunately, Melbourne’s idea of summer included the occasional rain shower, however the entire cast handled it like absolute professions, making light of it as they paused the show momentarily and then continued without missing a beat. Thankfully the stage crew had plastic ponchos to hand out, so everyone remained dry and in good spirits.
With a 90-minute running time, it’s the perfect half-day entertainment for kids during the school holidays, with plenty of humour and song choices for adults too.
The Wind In The Willows is playing Wednesday through Sunday each week until the end of January, with morning or evening shows on most days. Tickets are available online here.
