'Peter Pan' Review
Until 7 January 2024.
Our verdict
Photo by Mark Douet
At its best, J.M. Barrie’s classic Peter Pan possesses all the right whimsical ingredients for a Christmas show. Happily, by and large, Evan Placey’s adaptation captures its magical qualities well. A frisson of genuine danger from Captain Hook and his cohorts wouldn’t go amiss, though, some astringent aspect of leavening the show’s softer, more sentimental qualities, but it doesn’t matter significantly; there’s much to relish elsewhere. Like most of Rose’s festive treats, a small contingent of professional actors work alongside the venue’s stellar youth theatre, and the result is invariably entertaining, sometimes truly enchanting.
Like the original story, Placey’s version, capably directed by Lucy Morrell, begins in the nursery of the Darling’s comfortable London home, a place where the three siblings are ruled by the wonderful dog Nana (here a skilful puppet) and where Wendy is a disaffected teenager arguing with her mother.
Photo by Mark Douet
Outside looms the shadow of Peter Pan, the only boy who will never grow up, and once he’s crashed into their lives through the nursery window, everything is transformed forever.
Placey frames a narrative where a grandmother (an excellent Hilary Maclean) reads her grandson (Ella Waldmann) the bedtime story of Pan whilst the action unfurls on stage.
Oli Townsend’s simple, superbly effective set conjures the story’s various locales vibrantly, transporting the audience from an affluent Edwardian home to a pirate ship, the Lost Boys’ cosy snug or a lagoon with just a few tweaks of the central staircase.
The backlit projections overhead that depict the Crocodile, Hook’s clock-ticking nemesis and other characters are well-handled, too, and it’s wonderful to see the children flying through the night sky towards the magical realm of Neverland, here represented by small paper-mache puppets.
Photo by Mark Douet
Kaine Ruddach is well cast as the effervescent, playful Peter Pan and Michelle Bishop (playing both Hook and Mrs Darling, a double act that reflects Wendy’s derisory indictment of her) has lots of punning fun with a swashbuckling, rather comedic Hook, more malicious bully than treacherous predator, accompanied by hapless sidekick Smee, played endearingly by Dominic Rye, who again doubles as Mr Darling.
I must admit being a little underwhelmed by the songs on offer - better in the second half than the first- but the ensemble’s energy overall is terrific.
For me, though, the standout performance is Isla Griffiths, who’s simply wonderful as Wendy, conveying both the girl’s blossoming maturity and her teenage angst so persuasively; it’s a performance of real depth and maturity, astonishing to realise she isn’t yet a professional.
As her older self, Hilary Maclean is also first-rate, the poignancy of seeing the eternally youthful Peter reconnecting with the mature Wendy reminds the audience that everyone has to grow up eventually, for “Time is chasing after all of us,” as Barrie described it.
But Peter Pan speaks to the inner child in us all. With its message about accepting every type of family unit, this beguiling adaptation chimes well with the seasonal spirit of kindness and tolerance.
