Theatre Review: Malory Towers at The Leeds Playhouse

While author Enid Blyton has more recently faced some controversy, this musical theatre is likely to bring its adaptor, Rice, further acclaim. Her Malory Towers perfectly conjures a nostalgic picture of 1940s’ post-war England while somehow also managing to champion inclusivity.

Opening outside the principle’s office in a contemporary school, Rice’s Malory Towers slickly moves through time to highlight societal shifts and timeless character archetypes. A digital countdown skips back through the years, taking us to the moment Mary-Lou Atkinson (Eden Barrie), Alicia Johns (Molly Cheesley), Gwendoline Lacey (Rebecca Collingwood), Irene Dupont (Stephanie Hockley), Sally Hope (Bethany Wooding) and Darrell Rivers (Robyn Sinclair) meet on the train to begin their first year at Malory Towers and a map projection tracks their journey to the Cornish coast.

The past and present marry as the girls are united through literature with Rice cleverly utilising Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream to bridge the years and stimulate what she daubs the “collective imagination”. With only a silhouette and Dame Sheila Hancock’s voiceover as Miss Grayling, the girls are essentially teacherless and as such guide their own learning. In keeping with Blyton’s original series, Rice’s musical charts the girls’ personal development as each hopes to become “women that the world can lean on.” Taking her favourite moments from the books to abridge the girls’ coming of age, Rice stays true to Blyton’s characters while giving each their own personal arc.

Lez Brotherton’s seemingly simple set is versatile, opening up for outdoors scenes and utilising props such as wheeling desks for shifts between the dorm, classroom and drama studio. Malcolm Rippeth’s rainbow lighting complements Rice’s queer progressive lens. Video design and bespoke animations from Simon Baker give a subtle nod to comics featured in retro girls’ annuals and add further appeal for a younger contemporary audience. Ian Ross’ composition is brought to life by musicians playing live on stage, blending original numbers and iconic period pieces, most notable in the beautifully harmonised bittersweet “Hush Now Sally”.

Rice’s script flits between song and dialogue to introduce characters and is wistful in tone. Peppered adages like “If you can’t be civil – be silent” hark back to the story’s 1940s’ setting with mentions of hockey games and midnight feasts conjuring images of innocence and idyllic school days. Rice skilfully moves between a farcical cliff-top rescue, corny dad joke style puns and heart wrenching scenes addressing post-war PTSD, eliciting audible sobs from her audience. Utilising puppetry too, Malory Towers includes all the expected trademarks of Rice, serving up a thoroughly enjoyable heart-warming slice of Blyton’s world. Her decision to cast non-binary Zoe West as late arrival Bill Robinson updates Blyton’s tom boy characters, celebrating gender fluidity, suggesting this isn’t just a musical about “girl power” but “people power”, emphasising too the importance of teamwork. “Hi-jinks” indeed! Pinky swear.

Malory Towers showed at The Leeds Playhouse May 27-30 2026:

https://www.emmaricecompany.co.uk/productions/malory-towers