For the first scene the audience left their seating and walked up to the side of the river where some of the cast performed a scene where Ratty first encounters Mole. Part of the scene involved Ratty and Mole in a real boat on the river which was lovely and the actors proficiently 'wobbled' the boat as part of the scene without actually falling in! Part of the scene involved the character 'Beaver' who was played by a comical chap in a long stripy blue and white bathing suit complete with large beaver tail. His part of the enactment involved him swimming in the river then dragging himself out onto the bank to act out his part (we all thought he was very brave as, although the weather was hot, the water must have been freezing - not to mention the risk of weils disease!!!

The rest of the play was conducted on one of three stages in front of the house which was used to much effect as 'Toad Hall'. The actors were all excellent, particularly Ratty, Toad, Badger and Mole and there were fantastic props of gypsy caravans, trains and motor cars as Toad goes through his various 'enthusiastic' phases. There were some lovely comic turns and missed queues which made the audience laugh. Some of the actors were children who played rabbits etc and they were definitely the 'cute' factor.

The play started at 7.30pm and didn't finish until about 10.30pm which made it a bit of a long evening for some children in the audience who we saw leaving early with their parents. By that time it had also got rather chilly so I was glad we had packed jumpers and rugs and I made some coffee in a flask. Throughout the performance we munched on our picnic out of our posh whicker picnic basket.

On the way out there were fairy lights along the side of the river to guide people. All in all it was a lovely relaxing and entertaining evening on a beautiful summers evening. I think we would definitely consider going to an outdoor event like this again.

The actors involved in the production were members of the 'Maskers' company