YORK Theatre Royal needs a summer hit after the generally negative reaction to last year's family show Robin Hood And The Arrow Of Destiny. "Off target"! "What's the point?", came the cries.

Thankfully, The Secret Garden has the reassuring aroma of success from its first winter bloom at Keswick, where Jessica Swale's adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's beloved novel formed the Christmas show at the Theatre by the Lake.

Director Liz Stevenson has taken up the reins anew to re-mount her production in York with the set and costumes designs by Lily Arnold, a menagerie of puppets and a score by Barnaby Race already in place and a cast of 11 freshened up with new additions joining four returnees.

"I'm thrilled that our production of The Secret Garden is to York," says Liz, Theatre by the Lake's associate director. "It was a wonderful experience making the show in Keswick last Christmas, and to see how the audience there took the story to their hearts. It feels particularly special to now be bringing it home to Yorkshire."

Hodgson Burnett's story opens in 1910 India where spoilt, lonely Mary Lennox lives a life of luxury with her aristocratic parents. When an unexpected twist of fate suddenly leaves her orphaned, she is sent to live with an unknown uncle in Misselthwaite Manor, a mysterious place on the wild Yorkshire moors. Aided by some unexpected new friends, however, Mary seeks to discover the legend of its secret garden.

"Through the journey of the play we see how Yorkshire's beautiful landscape and the warmth of its people turn Mary's life around. Jessica Swale's adaptation brings all of the book's magic and mystery to life on stage, and we're excited about reviving it for York Theatre Royal this summer," says Liz, winner of the JMK Young Director Award in 2015.

Liz recalls how The Secret Garden came to fruition at Keswick. "Conrad [artistic director Conrad Lynch] was looking for a family show, something that would appeal to all ages and address all generations, and The Secret Garden has all the seasons in it; the first half is very dark and gloomy and cold; the second is much more joyful," she says.

The Yorkshire setting should appeal even more now that Swale's play has moved on to York Theatre Royal, even if it is a place of darkness. "I think people forget just how dark the north is, and Misselthwaite Manor is a very dark, scary place," says Liz, whose 86-year-old grandmother used to live in York.

"We didn't want to shy away from that darkness, so while it's a story of joy and magic and life, it's also a story of grief and death, where Misselthwaite has been stuck in its grief for ten years and the story is about breaking that cycle."

Swale favours "lots of different scenes in lots of different locations" for her adaptation. "These quite short scenes give it a filmic quality, in a way, and you also have a big design challenge, such as you have to create a secret garden. That means there are two secrets to the house: ten-year-old Colin Craven and the garden, and you want the audience to feel that they're there from the start, which I think we've achieved."

Making the world of the manor house and the garden required bold design decisions. "We've created a space where we can move in a fluid way, as you can't put a big secret garden or a full-scale manor on stage; you have to ask people to use their imagination," says Liz.

"As the scenes are short and run into each other and sometimes overlap, my job is to make sure everyone has a clear idea of what it must be like to live or work at Misselthwaite Manor, but also have a sense of the outside world, and we wanted to illuminate the world of India too, which we've done through movement and the choice of music.

"We also talked about how different the two landscapes must feel to Mary; coming from India, how alien the world of Misselthwaite must be to her."

A family show, built around a children's novel, should be taken no less seriously than a heavyweight classic as a theatrical challenge for writer, director and cast alike, reckons the director. "When you think about lots of children's stories that are successful, there's always darkness and fear, and we really embrace that, so when you get the happy ending, you really deserve it," says Liz.

"The story celebrates the power of imagination and that's what adults can learn from children: you're never too old to play and one of the things that's so joyous is how the adults invest in Mary's new world."

Liz lives in Manchester now but recalls her own childhood days of visiting her grandparents' Lancashire farm. "I remember whiling away the hours, when all there was was grass and trees, and you had to create a world in your imagination," she says.

No wonder The Secret Garden resonates so strongly with her.

Theatre by the Lake's The Secret Garden blooms at York Theatre Royal from July 27 to August 25. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk