As with many classic books, we could analyze Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden to pieces. The undercurrent of magic, the power of positive thinking and the importance of friendship are all there and are all valid points to discuss about the book. But what it boils down to is that everyone wants a beautiful place of their own, and a story about the care and cultivation of such a place is very attractive to readers of all ages. The stage adaptation at Garland's Granville Arts Center is composed of actors ages 8 to 18 who--in roles like Mary Lennox, frail Colin and Dickon, the gardener's apprentice--take the audience into a world that is turning from lifeless to lush. But more than the landscape is changing. In the course of the story, as the garden comes to life, so do two neglected, unhealthy and unhappy children who come to find friendship where before were nearly impenetrable walls of loneliness. The Secret Garden runs at 7:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Granville Arts Center, 300 N. 5th St. in downtown Garland. Tickets are $10 to $12. Call 972-205-2790 or visit garlandcivictheatre.org.
Dec. 27-29, 2:30 & 7:30 p.m.; Wed., Dec. 30, 2:30 p.m., 2009