Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds

> Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds

Helen Beatrix Potter was born in July 1866 and was brought up in an austere family with a governess, so she never went to school. To a certain extent she probably never really grew up but through her early years she was building upon her love of animals and nature.

Rohan McCullough who became Beatrix for the evening told her life story in a beautiful narration and you were introduced to her world of escapism.

Beatrix's own description of this was that she started writing without anything to write about. However, at the age of six she was already approaching printing companies to have her drawings published. What strength of character this was especially at such a young age.

Her dominant father featured a lot in her life, yet at the age of 36 she was still living at home with both parents, being treated as a child. Her first love Norman died within a short time and it was only some eight years later when she was 47 that you saw and were able to share in her new happiness. This was when she met and later married Willie.

So through her childhood and her later experiences at Hilltop Farm she created the world famous characters of Peter Rabbit, Mrs Tiggiwinkle and so many more. Rohan gave a strong, animated performance drawing out the sadness and insecurity of the parts in Beatrix's life. In her own words she wrote and painted to please, but despite her tremendous success and eventual happiness she never achieved the approval of her parents.