The Wind in the Willows: OFS Studio, Oxford

3:52pm Wednesday 13th August 2008

It's too politically incorrect for many people to risk championing the joys of the motor car these days. If Jeremy Clarkson is too busy, it may be necessary to call upon the services of a hyperactive cross-dressing toad on the run from the law.

The toad in question is played by the indefatigable Ashley Harvey - and, boy, don't you know it. With his squawking, hand fluttering and wide-eyed scampering about the small stage, there's no doubt that Harvey - the H of theatre company BMH, and one of four producers of this version of the tale about a group of creatures whose messing about on the river is threatened by a gang of rodents - is the 22-year-old dynamo that generates the necessary spark here.

While the portrayal is faithful to Kenneth Grahame's work (as adapted by Alan Bennett), it can be heavy going, particularly as Nicola Blake's Mole is often an all-too enthusiastic, though artistically competent, companion to the pompous amphibian. I was grateful for the calming influence both of Ralph Hughes-Watson as Ratty, here a debonair officer type rather than merely a furry nerd, and of Daniel Halsall as the gruff, but sage, Badger; Halsall was certainly successful in conveying a senior stage presence.

Credit must go, too, to Ben Watts as the melancholy Brummie horse Albert, whose lugubrious tones reminded me of Marvin the Android's weary contributions to The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

What minor technical hitches occurred on the opening night, such as the babbling sound of the Thames starting and ending abruptly in the early waterside scenes, merely prompted wry smiles. The principal flaw was the running time, which seemed much longer than the two-and-a-bit hours it lasted; director Katy Rudd could have been less deferential to Bennett and cut some less productive scenes, making the Weasels a little more menacing as a result. From a technical point of view, the production is relatively conservative, though Otter (Andrew Ritchie) moving prone on a skateboard to portray swimming is a nifty move.

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