Tom's Midnight Garden
by David Wood

Highlights

Female

Male

105 mins 1950s Ensemble Cast Unit Set/Multiple Settings Period Costumes Comedy

Synopsis

This play is an adaptation of Philippa Pearce’s 1950s classic boy’s nightly voyage to a Victorian past.

Quarantined in his Aunt’s and Uncle’s stuffy flat because his brother has measles, Tom is restless and bored.

Intrigued by a Grandfather clock, religiously wound by the elderly owner of the house, Mrs. Bartholomew, Tom is startled one night to hear the clock strike thirteen!

Slipping out of bed he goes to what in his time is a concrete backyard, only to discover a beautiful Victorian garden of the 1880s.

He meets the unhappy orphan, Hatty, who initially is the only person who can see him, and he visits her each night at the same hour, writing enthusiastically to his brother, Peter, about his adventures.

But although Tom stays the same exuberant 10-year-old, Hatty grows into a young woman during these visits.

Before the story can reach its outcome, Tom has to return to his parents, but the truth is revealed in a touching denouement.

Press Reviews

"Capturing the essence of one of the best children’s stories ever written, the Unicorn … has created a dream of a production. This haunting adaptation by dramatist David Wood accords Philippa Pearce’s timeless classic the respect it deserves …” - Time Out“A magnificent gateway for the imagination… many’s the time we hear a claim made for a children’s show that it will wow grown-ups as much as its target audience, but how rare is the beast that lives up to that boast … one of the most theatrically thrilling productions I’ve seen in the past year …” - Daily Telegraph“Fans of the endlessly intriguing puzzle that is time travel can list a new destination … the New Victory Theatre, where Tom's Midnight Garden mingles past and present to touching effect in an award-winning play based on a prize-winning novel."
— The New York Times

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Tom about 10, 1950s	—	50s	about 10, 1950s
Uncle Alan 1950s	—	50s	1950s
Aunt Gwen 1950s	—	50s	1950s
Peter Tom’s brother, about 8, 1950s	male	50s	Tom’s brother, about 8, 1950s
Susan the maid, 1880s/ 1890s	—	80s	the maid, 1880s/ 1890s
Hatty about 9 to 19, 1880s/ 1890s	—	9-19	about 9 to 19, 1880s/ 1890s
Aunt Grace 1880s/ 1890s	—	80s	1880s/ 1890s
Abel the gardener, 1880s/ 1890s	—	80s	the gardener, 1880s/ 1890s
James about 12 to 22 ,1880s/ 1890s	—	12-22	about 12 to 22 ,1880s/ 1890s
Edgar about 11 to 21, 1880s/ 1890s	—	11-21	about 11 to 21, 1880s/ 1890s
Hubert about 14 to 24, 1880s/ 1890s	—	14-24	about 14 to 24, 1880s/ 1890s
Small Hatty about 6, 1880s	—	80s	about 6, 1880s
Barty about 21, 1890s	—	90s	about 21, 1890s
Ely Cathedral Tower Guide 1890s	—	90s	1890s
The Angel in Tom’s nightmare	—	—	in Tom’s nightmare
Skaters, Sightseers, Voices Of The House	—	—	—
Mrs. Bartholomew in her 70s, 1950s	female	70s	in her 70s, 1950s