MICHAEL Morpurgo’s moving World War Two story An Elephant In The Garden comes to the Theatre Royal Winchester stage on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In an extraordinary performance by Alison Reid, the play tells how a girl, her mother and an elephant from the zoo flee allied bombing in Germany.
From the creators of the five star hit play Private Peaceful, also adapted from a book by Michael Morpurgo, An Elephant in the Garden follows the trio as they come across friends and foe in hiding or on the run.
They meet a downed RAF officer cowering in a barn, a homeless school choir on the run and their Countess saviour harbouring them from the Nazis, and the mechanised American cavalry, appearing over the horizon.
It is Lizzie’s story – but Marlene, the elephant, is the heroine. Plodding, obdurate, opportunistic, load-bearing, indestructible, cheering, Marlene embodies the stubbornness of the human will and how it will do everything to survive.
Michael Morpurgo has written many books including War Horse, Waiting For Anya, Friend or Foe and Born to Run.
Alison Reid has worked extensively as an actress at the RSC, for Filter Theatre, at Bristol Old Vic and at the National Theatre.
Suitable for adults and older children, An Elephant In The Garden is adapted & directed by Simon Reade and presented by Poonamallee Productions and Northcott Theatre.
Tickets from theatreroyalwinchester.co.uk and 01962 840 440.
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