Toad of Toad Hall

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For the character, see Mr. Toad.

Toad of Toad Hall at the Australian National University.

Toad of Toad Hall is the first of several dramatisations of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. It was written by A. A. Milne, with incidental music by Harold Fraser-Simson.

Milne extracted the adventures of Mr. Toad (which form only about half of the original book) because they lent themselves most easily to being staged. Milne loved Grahame's book, which is one of the reasons he decided to adapt it. The play has four main characters: Rat, Badger, Mole, and Toad. Toad's caravan and car adventures are included, as well as his imprisonment, escape, and subsequent fight with the weasels and stoats to regain his home with the help of his friends. Although not a musical, the play contains six songs.

Its first production was at the Lyric Theatre in London on 17 December 1929.

[edit] Actors

During the play's history many great actors have played the part of Toad in a number of plays, films, and TV dramatizations. These include:

Terry Jones - Director and actor in the film, The Wind in the Willows
Thomas Dempster - familiar Toad in the KH BLS play, Toad of Toad Hall
Leo McKern - as Toad on stage in London
Michael Hordern - at the Shakespeare Memorial (now the Royal Shakespeare) Theatre, Stratford
Raymond Westwell - at Stratford
Patrick Wymark - at Stratford
Gerald Campion - on television, and in London
James Hayter - on television
Jeremy Geidt - in London
Peter Woodthorpe - in London and at Stratford
Martin Friend - in London
Ian Wallace - in London
Michael Graham Cox - in London
Derek Smith - in London, at Stratford and on radio
Michael Bates - in London
Nicky Henson - in London
Ian Talbot - in London
Peter Sowerbutts - in Bromley, Kent
Dale Superville - in Salisbury
Michael Williams [1] - Stratford