The Little Gardener is an outdoor show that will delight younger audiences.

Outside the Lyric Theatre, the audience find inviting seats forming a half circle, waiting to be occupied by young dreamers. The prop that’s going to call their attention and make them stay is the large glass box structure with a real-life garden inside.

If having a mobile garden is already an amazing concept for any age, put yourself in a child’s place and think how extraordinary must be to find a little glass house, where even the grown-ups can play. To completely understand the magic of this particular set, designed by James Lewis, try to sit on the ground and let that little garden grow through your eyes.

Based on the children’s book by Emily Hughes, the show by How it Ended tells the story of a little gardener who loved his garden but felt too little to take care of it. However, in this performance, with the young audience’s help, he will discover how rewarding it is to work and persist.

There are no words during this show and the audience won’t miss them. While Darren Clarke’s music brings voice and rhythm to the performance, the flushed face of Peter Hobday and the dexterity with which he handles his puppet bring the little gardener to life.

In spite of the overall quality of the performance, the plot lacks progression and resolution. The moments that capture the attention of the youngest aren’t the ones that describe the narrative of the tale, but the ones that include surprising twists: like the little gardener finding himself dancing hip hop or digging deep enough to make pink worms and yellow flowers sprout from the soil.

If the popular saying “slow and steady wins the race” turn out to be too much of a challenging metaphor for some children in the audience, the director Eva Sampson assures that everyone will have the time of their lives by opening the glass doors that were keeping a barrier between them and the garden.

The time when children are allowed to get their hands dirty is the moment of greatest joy in the play. The enthusiasm and excitement of the audience, both parents and children, literally break the fourth wall and an unspeakable joy sets in.

The words “happily ever after” may not be there, but the sensation is written in the smiles: those of the audience and the little gardener,  now owner of a flower-filled garden planted by him and his little helpers.

The Little Gardener played at the Lyric Theatre until 8 June. For more information, see the Lyric Theatre website.