Theatre By The Lake's Christmas Show, Tom's Midnight Garden
This year the Christmas show at Keswick's Theatre by the Lake is Tom’s Midnight Garden, a magical reimagining of this much-loved children’s classic.
Directed by Liz Stevenson and designed by Louie Whitemore, Tom’s Midnight Garden wows audiences with its playful theatricality, music and puppetry. This tale of friendship and discovery is brought to life on the theatre’s Main Stage.
It tells the story of Tom who has been sent away with his aunt and uncle to quarantine in a mysterious old house. Bored and lonely, Tom counts down the days until he can go home to his old life, until one night, he hears the grandfather clock strike thirteen. Guided by ghostly voices, Tom discovers a magical garden on the other side of a door and meets Hatty. The pair strike up a firm friendship, sharing adventures without a care in the world. But all is not as it seems, and poor Tom soon discovers that he is rapidly running out of time.
Theatre by the Lake’s production of Tom’s Midnight Garden has been adapted for the stage by David Wood from the book by Philippa Pearce and will run from Fri 26 November 2021 until Saturday 15 January 2021. Puppetry will be provided by Jimmy Grimes - the puppet director from The Shepherd’s Life in 2016.
The play’s messages about friendship, empathy and the passage of time have never been more relevant and will no doubt touch many theatre goers’ hearts. Audiences are invited to take a break from real life this Christmas and travel in time to explore Tom and Hatty’s ‘other’ world.
Most performances will be running at full capacity, and you can book unlimited tickets. However the theatre are offering 4 guaranteed socially distanced performances. These performances will take place on Mon 29 November, Fri 3 December, Fri 7 January and Friday 14 January, all at 7.15pm. The theatre has also catered for those for whom an in-person visit to the theatre is too soon by announcing a digital on-demand version of Tom’s Midnight Garden available to book now and viewable on-demand from Thu 23 – Thu 30 December.
TBTL is proud to be See it Safely approved by Official London Theatre and have received the Visit Britain ‘We’re Good to Go’ industry standard mark. Strict Covid precautions will be in place to ensure the safety of audiences with enhanced cleaning, ventilation, safe queueing systems in place, reduced touchpoints and mask-wearing. The theatre will continue to review these measures inline with government and industry guidelines and update their website. Audiences can also book with confidence knowing that the theatre allows maximum flexibility to exchange or refund your ticket(s) up to 24 hours before the performance should you need to self isolate.
TBTL’s Artistic Director, Liz Stevenson said:
“It is so wonderful to be able to bring our beloved annual Christmas show to our Keswick stage once again. The show is going to be inventive and vibrant with a little bit of that special magic that our audiences have come to expect and love! Tom’s Midnight Garden is about the passing of time and people growing up and getting older – but it is also about friendship, imagination and having wild adventures. After an unprecedented year, we hope that this will be the perfect Christmas treat for friends and family to come together and enjoy.”
