If you grew up loving Frances Hodgson Burnett’s “The Secret Garden,” you might remember the hidden key, the dead aunt, the hidden bedridden Colin, the loneliness and grief, the way two brats learn how to be less bratty.
You might have forgotten that protagonist Mary Lennox lost her parents to a disease outbreak, which makes Circus Center’s version of the 1911 story poignant for our own moment.
Adapted and directed by Felicity Hesed, the show uses acrobatics to build Mary’s world: the lost love between Lily and Archibald Craven; the forbidding corridors of the Craven estate; the teeming, wondrous, mysterious flora.
At a time when the region’s families are still reeling from the sudden loss ofBay Area Children’s Theatre,“The Secret Garden” — whose cast has both seasoned professionals and youth performers — represents an especially vital option for parents hoping to introduce their young ones to live theater.