The Secret Garden Play Guide

Mary Lennox is a bossy and lonely child, always in a bad mood. After a terrible sickness sweeps through her home in India, Mary is sent to England to live with her uncle she’s never met, Archibald Craven, in the gloomy Misselthwaite Manor. The manor is hundreds of years old and full of long hallways and locked rooms. Mr. Craven is almost never home, and the housekeeper, Mrs. Medlock, makes it clear that Mary is not to go wandering around.

Mary’s days change when she meets Martha, a lively housemaid who responds to her. Martha encourages Mary to dress herself, go outside, and play, something Mary has never really done. Outside, Mary meets Ben Weatherstaff, the grumpy gardener, and a friendly robin who seems to follow her everywhere.

One day, Mary hears about a mysterious garden on the grounds, one that was locked up ten years prior after Mr. Craven’s wife died. No one is allowed inside, the door is hidden, and the key has long since been buried. Naturally, Mary is determined to find it. As Mary explores the various manor gardens and the moor, she grows healthier and happier. With the help of the robin, she finally discovers the buried key and unlocks the door to the secret garden. Inside, she finds a forgotten but promising place with flowers beneath the soil still alive and waiting to grow again. Mary asks Martha for gardening tools, and Martha’s brother Dickon, who has a magical way with animals and plants, comes to help. Dickon teaches Mary how to plant seeds and care for the garden. Together, they promise to keep the garden a secret and bring it back to life.

At night, Mary hears crying echoing through the halls. She follows the sound and discovers her cousin, Colin Craven, hidden away in a bedroom. Colin believes he is very ill, thinks he will die young, and is terrified he will grow up deformed like his father. Everyone treats him as fragile and sick, which has caused him to grow spoiled, angry, and afraid of the world. Mary refuses to feel sorry for him, so she talks back, challenges him, and tells him about the secret garden. Colin becomes fascinated and demands to see it. Mary agrees, but only if he keeps it a secret.

With careful planning, Mary, Dickon, and Martha sneak Colin into the garden. Now surrounded by fresh air, sunshine, and growing flowers, Colin feels something new: hope. He begins to believe he might get better. With encouragement from Mary and Dickon, he starts to move, to stand, and, eventually, to walk. Ben Weatherstaff soon reveals that he has been quietly caring for the garden all along, honoring a promise he made to Mrs. Craven long ago. Together, the children and Ben continue to tend the roses and bring the garden fully back to life. As the garden grows, so do the children. Mary becomes kind and confident. Colin becomes brave and joyful.

Meanwhile, Mr. Craven, traveling far from home, is haunted by sadness and memories of his wife. After a powerful dream, he decides to return to Misselthwaite Manor. When he arrives, he follows the sounds of music and laughter to discover his son running happily in the garden. Father and son are reunited in the very place Mr. Craven once locked away in grief. The garden, once a symbol of loss, becomes a symbol of healing and new beginnings. The story ends with the children proudly stepping out of the secret garden—no longer hidden, no longer afraid—ready to face the world together.

HISTORY HUNTERS

Before actors step onstage, someone has to uncover the world of the play, and that someone is called a dramaturg. A dramaturg researches the time, place, and people of a story so everyone understands how characters lived, spoke, dressed, and behaved. While dramaturgs are solely tasked with large scale research, it is still the responsibility of everyone working on a production (directors, designers, and actors alike) to engage in dramaturgical research to enhance their understanding of a piece.

For this activity, your students will become dramaturgs learning about life in 1911 England. To help get your students in the zone about their research, introduce them to the Yorkshire accent, one of the prominent English accents that would be used by the characters in The Secret Garden.

After watching the video, divide the class into six small groups. Print the Unlocking the Past documents found below:

Each page of the document has a different topic to research about life in 1911 England with questions to help guide your students in their dramaturgy. Assign one topic/page to each group. Once groups have answered the questions and completed their research, have them create a presentation to showcase their knowledge which will later be presented to the rest of the class. After every presentation, pause for a brief discussion: 

1. What information or details did you learn that stood out to you or surprised you? 

2. Compare life in 1911 to life in 2026. Do you notice any similarities or differences? What are they?

3. How can this information help us understand the characters and world of The Secret Garden?

KAS: C.4.5; C.3.4

A GARDEN ALL YOUR OWN

Ask your students to write a short story imagining they’ve discovered their own secret garden. It should begin with them finding a locked door and searching for the hidden key. Once inside their garden, encourage students to answer the following questions in their story: What does the garden look like? What magical, mysterious, or surprising things might be inside? What activities would they like to do in their garden? Does someone else find out about the garden (whether by accident or by them telling others about it)? What happens to the garden after they leave?

When students are finished writing, ask for volunteers to share their stories with the class!

KAS: C.4.3; L.4.2

GROWING TOGETHER

In this activity, students will use their bodies, voices, and imagination to create a living, breathing garden together. Start with the students as tiny seeds crouched low. Gradually, they “grow” into stems, flowers, birds, breezes, and anything else the garden needs. Allow students to make suggestions on things to add to the garden. Encourage the class to explore different levels (low, medium, and high) and think about how their movement and sounds interact with and enhance the rest of the garden. Guide the class through the seasons, considering how life in a garden expresses itself differently from season to season.

For added fun, choose a theme for your garden: magical, spooky, etc. One at a time, students should enter the space and add an element that fits the theme of the garden, building on what the group has already created. Once every student has been added to the garden, explore energy and sound levels from 1–10, noticing how the garden grows and changes. Repeat with new themes, giving everyone a chance to contribute and experiment.

KAS: TH:Cr2.1.5.a; TH:Cr3.1.4.c

IN BLOOM

Chat with your students about how plants need care, attention, and patience, just like friendships, families, and communities do. Gardens are a lot like people; they need to be cultivated and tended to with great care in order to grow and flourish. In The Secret Garden, tending the garden helps the characters grow, heal, and see the world in new ways. Ask questions that get students thinking and connecting: 

1. How does it feel when someone cares for you? How is that like watering a plant? 

2. What happens when you notice the beauty in the world around you? 

3. How can helping someone else “bloom” help you “bloom,” too? 

4. Can you think of a time when you helped someone grow? 

5. Why is it important to notice small things, like a tiny flower or a kind action? 

After your discussion, have each student create their own garden flower using the materials listed below:

• Paper Cup 
• Colored Cardstock
• Pipe Cleaners 
• Pompoms 
• Paper Grass 
• Paint 
• Paintbrush 
• Paper Fasteners (also known as Split Pins or Brads) 
• Scissors 
• Glue 

Start this craft by making the base for your flowers and painting the outside of paper cup. While the paint dries, cut a grass border from the cardstock. Once dry, turn the cup upside down and wrap the cardstock grass around it, securing it with glue.

Afterwards, move on to making the flowers. Cut 3-4 flower shapes from the cardstock and insert a pipe cleaner into the center of each, folding the top point over. Glue a pompom to the center of each flower.

Once the bouquet of flowers is complete, it’s time to finish assembly. Gently push a paper fastener/brad through the top of the upside-down cup, one for each flower. Wrap the bottom of each flower stem around the brad. Finally, glue paper grass around the base of the flower stems.

KAS: VA:Cr2.1.4; VA:Cr2.2.3

Behind the Gate: A Conversation with the Director of The Secret Garden

Meet Gabriel Slusser

Every magical world onstage starts with someone brave enough to imagine it—and for The Secret Garden, that person is Gabriel Slusser! Gabriel is the Technical Director at Lexington Children’s Theatre and director of LCT’s production of The Secret Garden.

Originally from Georgia, Gabriel earned his Bachelor’s degree in Theatre from Piedmont College and has worked at theatres all across the eastern United States including Titusville Playhouse, Georgia Ensemble Theatre, and the world-famous Stagedoor Manor. Now, he’s thrilled to be part of the LCT family, where he gets to combine storytelling, imagination, and teamwork every day. 

In this interview, Gabriel shares his ideas, inspirations, and excitement for bringing The Secret Garden to life onstage. From designing magical spaces to imagining how the garden grows, he gives us a behind-the-scenes look at how a classic story becomes a theatrical adventure.

What is your vision for The Secret Garden? 

The Secret Garden may begin with loss, but it’s rooted in the healing and growth that follows. A manor buried in grief, a child trying desperately to crack the soil above and find room to grow. Mary is determined to pull back the layers that we hide from ourselves and others, and to nurture her entire community back to health. 

What excites you most about bringing this story to life on stage? 

I can’t think of a part I’m not excited for! I’m excited to remind us all to help make the world a better place, to bring an appreciation for nature onto our stage, and to work with such a fantastic team on such a nostalgic story. 

What themes or ideas from the play are you most excited for audiences to experience? 

I’m most excited for audiences to experience the quiet transformation at the heart of this story—the awakening that happens when we choose to open ourselves to growth. The Secret Garden reminds us that individual healing doesn’t happen in isolation; when one person begins to grow, that growth ripples outward and invites others to heal alongside them. The contrast between the steady rhythm of nature and the rigid structure of society feels especially powerful. Nature asks us to slow down, to listen, to breathe, while grief and routine often encourage us to shut ourselves away. This story gently pushes against that instinct, showing the healing that comes when we stop hiding from pain and allow ourselves to step back into the world. 

I’m drawn to the idea of secrets—those we bury deep inside ourselves and those we choose to share. The garden becomes a space where secrecy transforms into honesty, where trauma can be acknowledged instead of avoided. In unrooting ourselves from the past and choosing to live fully in the present, the characters discover not only healing, but joy. That journey—from isolation to connection—is what excites me most to share with an audience.

Let’s talk about the some of the designs for The Secret Garden. How does the scenic design enhance this story?

We work with a team of designers for all our productions and discuss, together, the story we’re telling and how we want to share it. Katherine Stepanek, our guest scenic designer, has designed a world framed by draped fabric and sheer curtains so we can literally reveal the beauty behind them, both within our set and within ourselves. 

What about the robin puppet; how will it be utilized in the production? 

Our robin puppet is created by our staff props and puppet fabricator, Forrest Loeffler. It’s operated by a cast member dressed in period costumes. Story-telling wise, Robin becomes Mary’s first ever friend. He helps her to grow as a person, sometimes with encouragement, and sometimes through a snide chirp of a comment. But Mary’s appreciation for the bird, and his belief in her, is what brings her to the secret garden to begin with. 

Do the actors use Yorkshire accents? If so, how did you go about teaching them and helping them remain consistent and believable? 

Yorkshire is famously one of the most difficult English accents to perfect, and this show’s rehearsal period was only 4 weeks before hitting tech. We opted not to use the accent. Instead, we use grammatical differences to separate the different social classes that exist in this show (i.e., “you gonna” vs “you are going to”). 

What do you hope the actors gain from working on this show? What about the audience?

Tend to your inner garden, and once it’s healthy and lush, help others tend to theirs. Lead with kindness and have patience while we all try to be a little better today than we were yesterday. The audience should leave feeling hopeful and emotionally full. Each of us has the capacity to make the world a better place if we’re simply willing to listen to the needs around us.

If you had your own secret garden, what would it look like?

I’d start like Ben Weatherstaff – vegetables, herbs, those sorts of practical things. When it comes to flowers, though, some of my favorites are wisteria, honeysuckle, and orchids.

ESCAPE FROM MISSELTHWAITE MANOR

This escape room challenge can be played as a whole class or in small groups, depending on space and time. Start by downloading the various elements needed for this activity from the link below:

Have your students imagine they are trapped inside the cold, quiet walls of Misselthwaite Manor. The doors are locked, windows sealed, and the garden is just out of reach. To escape and earn the key to the Secret Garden, students must work together to solve three connected challenges.

Challenge One: Garden Construction

Divide students into groups and give each a sealed envelope containing the puzzle pieces from the Escape Room packet. There are five total puzzles, each showing a key part of a garden: A gardener, watering can, plant, shovel and sun. The goal is to assemble the image and tape it together as quickly as possible.

Challenge Two: Robin Feather Hunt

Once the puzzles are finished, students will be able to hunt for the 15 paper robin feathers you’ve hidden around the room. Some feathers will have vowels while others are blank. Once all the feathers are found, gather your students and reveal that the letters will help decipher the secret code in the third challenge.

Challenge Three: Crack the Code

Now hand out the “Crack the Code” worksheet. Using the Secret Garden symbols, students must translate images into letters to uncover the hidden message: ALWAYS TAKE CARE OF OTHERS. Once the message is decoded, the door to Misselthwaite Manor will unlock and the students will earn the key to the Secret Garden. Present your students with a printed Secret Garden key to reward them for their teamwork!

KAS: 2.5.1; 2.5.4

GROW YOUR EMOTIONS

In this activity, students will explore the kindness, the importance of letting others in, and the difference between empathy and sympathy. Begin by showing your class this video about empathy vs sympathy. Encourage them to watch carefully and think about moments in the video where people show understanding, compassion, or support. After the video, guide your students through a discussion using the following questions:

• What does it mean to show sympathy? What does it mean to show empathy?
• Can you give an example of a time you were shown sympathy or empathy? 
• How were Mary and Colin feeling at the start of the story? Why did they act the way they did?
• How does the garden represent Mary and Colin at the start? How do both the garden and the characters change when nurtured with care and kindness?
• How can small acts of kindness help someone feel included or valued? 
• Why is it important to let others in and not shut them out? 

After the discussion, divide your class into small groups. Give each group one of the prompts/themes below:

Letting Someone In: A character feels lonely, and another invites them to join in. How does it feel to be included? 

Helping a Friend Heal: A character comforts someone who is sad or hurt and helps them feel better. 

From Grief to Growth: A character deals with loss or disappointment by connecting with others or trying something new. 

Acts of Kindness Bloom: A small act of kindness sparks a magical change in the environment or community. 

Breaking Barriers: A character realizes they were shutting someone out and finds a way to apologize and include them.

Ask each group to create a short scene showing how empathy, kindness, and inclusion can positively impact someone. Allow groups enough time to rehearse before presenting their scenes to the rest of the class. After each scene, talk with your students about their observations. How did kindness or empathy change the situation? How did the characters feel before and after being included or helping someone? What can we do to help spread more kindness, empathy, and inclusion in the real world?

KAS: TH:Cr1.1.5.c; TH:Cr2.1.3

TWEET TREATS 

Invite a few friendly robins into your own garden! You can find all the instructions with pictures for this fun craft at the link below:

KAS: VA:Cr2.2.3; VA:Cr2.1.4