Tom's Midnight Garden, which won the Barclay's Best Play for Children Award in 2001, is on its first major UK tour with a brand new production by the Birmingham Stage Company. David Wood has adapted the story - written by Philippa Pearce - which has become a children's and adult's favourite since it was first published in the 1950s.  | | Read our interview with Philippa Pearce as she talks about the inspiration behind Tom's Midnight Garden |
The book described as "one of the best children's stories ever written" by Time Out is a previous winner of the coveted Carnegie Medal. It tells the magical story of friendship across a magical divide. Ten-year-old Tom is transported back in time when he hears the mysterious grandfather clock in the hall strike thirteen. He arrives in the Victorian era and enters a wonderful secret garden, where he meets orphan Hatty. This haunting adaptation brings to life the marvellous adventures the two have together in a tale which is exciting and moving in equal measures.  It promises to "enthral the whole family" and has already received very good reviews.
The Guardian's reviewer wrote: "Not only does Tom's Midnight Garden offer a fascinating speculation on the nature of time but it delivers a genuine tingle down the spine. This is a show in which the old will recognise their younger selves and the very young get a fleeting glimpse of a yet unlived future. It is lump-in-the-throat stuff for adults and mysterious and magical for children" | 
