JK Rowling often appears astonished when asked why Harry Potter has to be an orphan. Parents are often missing in children’s stories precisely because their absence opens up worlds of possibilities for their offspring. Harry Potter gets through a succession of father figures in the course of Rowling’s seven books and his eventual happy ending comes only when he becomes a parent himself.
Nina Bawden’s 1973 novel Carrie’s War, recently adapted for the stage by Emma Reeves, is set during World War II in a Welsh village; to which the eponymous heroine and her younger brother are evacuated. Carrie and Nick and thousands like them have to find their way in a new world where their families are far away and not even on the phone, much less Facebook.
Carrie and Nick are the last to be billeted; ending up in the house of bullying bible-bashing councillor Evans and his downtrodden sister Lu. The children become drawn into the family feud when they visit the Evans’ elder and ailing widowed sister in her mysterious, isolated house: Druid’s Bottom, which becomes their Hogwarts.
The novel and the play, Andrew Loudon’s production is currently at the Apollo Theatre, both employ a framing device: the adult Carrie and her son visit Druid’s Bottom while on holiday and the story is her memories. Sarah Edwardson does so well as both Carries that it is almost impossible to tell how old she actually is without recourse to Google. Edwardson expertly conveys Carrie’s blend of loneliness, excitement, eagerness to please and responsibility for her wayward brother and it is impossible not to care what becomes of her.
Such is the modern mania for multimedia that it is almost a surprise to see a set made of flying flats and real furniture although the old-fashioned feel seems right for 1940s Wales. The accents from the non-Welsh actors do not disgrace them – with the exception of Prunella Scales, who phones in her performance as the elder Evans sister in barely audible Creole – and the occasional appearance of a choral group lends the production an almost Christmassy feel.
As the strands of the story come to an end, so does childhood: Druid’s Bottom turns from enchanted castle into a legacy to be squabbled over and Carrie’s first kiss comes as she discovers how helpless kids really are when the adult world breaks through.
Take the whole family along.
Carrie’s War is running until 12 September.
