‘Secret Garden’ production held at Eastern

Dickon%2C+played+by+graduate+student+Keegan+Tucker%2C+sings+%E2%80%9CWinter%E2%80%99s+on+the+Wing%E2%80%9D+during+%E2%80%9CThe+Secret+Garden%E2%80%9D+tech+week+rehearsals.+Tuckers+said+he+loves+the+camaraderie+among+cast+members+and+is+sad+to+see+the+performances+end+so+soon.

Elizabeth Wood

Dickon, played by graduate student Keegan Tucker, sings “Winter’s on the Wing” during “The Secret Garden” tech week rehearsals. Tuckers said he loves the camaraderie among cast members and is sad to see the performances end so soon.

Elizabeth Wood, Photo Editor

Sadness, anger, and heart-wrenching grief were a few emerging themes in the musical “The Secret Garden” this weekend.

The musical followed Mary Lennox as she learned to deal with the grief of losing her parents to a cholera outbreak, an infectious bacterial disease that travels through food and water. As she searches for her late aunt’s secret garden, she brings hope back into her Uncle Archibald and his son Colin Craven’s lives.

Danny Becker, a senior theatre major who played Dr. Craven, said he’s heard a lot of positive reviews, but he believed the show went well because it was not straight drama or comedy: it walked the fine line between melodrama and reality.

“[The Secret Garden] talks a lot about grief. You have all these different characters that sort of represent different stages of grief,” Becker said. “You have Lily that represents bargaining, you have depression with the character Archi, my character that represents anger, and you have a little girl like Mary. You have a strong female protagonist that acts as a through line to help, and she goes from this little pig-headed girl, to somebody who truly appreciates her nest and her home and her garden. I think that’s an important narrative to have today.”

While the characters represented different stages of grief, he thought the most important theme in the play is darkness to light. He said it’s nice to have moments of light that can make people brighter, and all that we must do is keep trying to find that light.

After the performance, audience members discussed how they had liked the play and praised the quality of the performance.

William McDunn, who was there with his wife to see his son Steven McDunn perform as Ben Weatherman, said, “We were here last year for ‘9 to 5’ and it was excellent. I guess we expected high quality and we got it. I thought it was good or better than what we were expecting.”