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Mary Poppins flies again in a musical that opens in Melbourne this month. Valerie Lawson, biographer of Poppins creator PL Travers, reacquaints herself with the magical governess.
She can fly like Peter Pan and play in the underworld like Alice in Wonderland. But Mary Poppins is more mysterious – more three-dimensional – than her fellow fantasy creatures. Created 76 years ago by Australian writer PL (Pamela) Travers, the flying nanny is younger than the Victorian-era Alice and the Edwardian-era Peter Pan. She sprang from the post-Depression age, yet has managed to lodge herself in the imagination of parents and children ever since the first Poppins book was published in London in 1934.
Julie Andrews playing Poppins has a lot to do with her popularity, but the Disney film of 1964 does not account for her longevity. Mary Poppins’ allure springs as much, or more, from her contradictory character. She is controlling and comforting, blunt yet kind, stern yet playful. And there’s something quite naughty about her flirtations with the butcher, the baker, the chimney sweep and even her employer, the banker, Mr Banks. As Travers said of Poppins, “men do fall in love with her”.
