‘I didn’t promise you this would be an entirely happy story,” says narrator Ishan Ramdas (Ronny Jhutti) at the start of act two. He is not kidding. Just before the interval, we have lost one of the most sympathetic characters and seen the star of the show become an orphan.
The novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett is a reverse Cinderella tale of riches to rags and it has to get dark before it gets light again. Seven-year-old Sara Crewe (Genevieve Sabherwal) journeys from home in India to boarding school in a chilly UK. She never lets her wealth get in the way of her humanity – especially in Sabherwal’s wholesome performance – but when things take a turn for the worse, even she has lessons in humility to learn.
