Mark Douet's photographs from the rehearsal room give a first look at The Wind in the Willows, the new Rob Evans adaptation that has its world premiere at Kingston's Rose Theatre on 25 November.
Rose Theatre has released the first rehearsal images for The Wind in the Willows, its Christmas show for 2026. It is the second world premiere at the Kingston upon Thames theatre this autumn, following Three Men in a Boat, whose reviews we rounded up in September. Rob Evans has written the play, John Biddle the music, and the source is Kenneth Grahame's novel. It runs from Wednesday 25 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, with the press performance on Thursday 3 December.
The pictures, all by Mark Douet, find the professional company working alongside the Rose Youth Theatre, who share the stage with them. The casting was announced at the end of September: Kingdom Sibanda plays Ratty, James Pedley-Holden is Mole, Julian Holt takes on Toad, Tori Burgess is Badger and Charlotte Mills plays the Chief Weasel.
Between them the five bring a varied set of credits. Sibanda has appeared in Stranger Things: The First Shadow and Our Town, and Holt in The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe at the Gillian Lynne Theatre and Little Shop of Horrors at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. Mills was in the RSC's Wendy and Peter Pan and in Small Prophets, Pedley-Holden in Crocodile Fever and Bridgerton, and Burgess in Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) and The Snow Queen at The Duke's Playhouse.
Owen Horsley directs. He returns to the Rose after staging its 2025 Cinderella, a production The Stage called "witty, well-plotted and heartfelt".
The story is told by Mole, and it is a Christmas one: how he and his three friends from the riverbank kept both the Wild Wood and the festive season out of the hands of the Chief Weasel. On the way Toad's recklessness threatens to catch up with him, and the shy Mole has to find enough nerve to save Toad Hall in time for Christmas. The Rose is pitching it at the whole family, with plenty of music and song.
For more information, visit the official website.
