A family forced to flee their home, to withstand enemy attacks and cruel weather – will they reach the haven they have heard of but never seen? Published just seven years after the end of the second world war, Mary Norton’s novel The Borrowers tells a timeless story, mythic in scope, domestic in detail, alternately thrilling and humorous in tone.
The Borrowers live in hidden corners of old houses, underneath the floorboards, behind the wainscots. Arrietty and her parents, Pod and Homily, survive by “borrowing” from the “human bean” inhabitants; an onion ring makes a perfect hula hoop for Arrietty, until her mother objects: “Don’t play with your food!” Television and film versions of the book use special effects to convey differences in scale. Theatre goes one better – it makes the impossible possible by setting audiences’ imaginations to work.
Patrick Connellan’s set cleverly contrasts visual scales. The house-based first half presents simultaneous views of above and below the floorboards; the alfresco second half has leaves of grass taller than the family and a boot big enough to house all three.
In one scary split-screen-style moment we see Arrietty’s human friend, George, push a paper bag down to the Borrowers’ underfloor home, with its converted matchbox bed and doll’s house furniture, so as to help them evade an attack by the destruction-determined cook, Mrs Driver. Above the boards, the bag is small enough to fit in George’s hand; below the boards, the “same” bag is large enough to hold Arrietty and both her parents.
Similarly, the scale shifts between living creatures are adroitly handled with puppets, bringing a real sense of jeopardy to the characters’ adventures in the field beyond the house (puppet direction by John Barber).
John Biddle’s sensitive music provides an expressive addition to Charles Way’s clever 1999 adaptation. In a well-balanced ensemble, under Mark Babych’s direction, Bea Glancy’s fresh and spirited Arrietty was particularly enjoyable.
The Borrowers is at Hull Truck Theatre, Hull, until 4 January 2025
