Peter Pan

For a first night the hall was almost full, and the audience waited with eager anticipation for this well-known tale to unfold, while an effective twinkly light beamed overhead heralding the arrival of Tinkerbell the fairy.

The curtains opened to a stunning Nursery scene, perfect beds for the children and a large window up-stage with a starlit sky behind, exactly right for the arrival of Peter chasing his shadow.

Peter, Wendy, John, and Michael were well cast, gave confident performances, and Wendy and Peter showed good rapport. Mrs Darling was suitably motherly transforming later on- board ship into Lady Starkey, the pivotal role of panto “dame”, in a great costume complete with black shiny boots, Mr Darling made an impressive entrance full of angst, then transformed into an intimidating and imposing Captain Hook, well played and with a great solo.

The experience of the performer in the “silly billy” role of “it’s me” Smee stood out. He immediately had the audience on side, and his “patter-piece” was very well received - oh yes it was!  

The character of Tinkerbell was well established from the outset, obviously suspicious of Wendy’s influence on Peter and very reluctant to share her “fairy dust”, she sang confidently giving a good interpretation of Defying Gravity from Wicked.

The beach scene with the rocks made a perfect platform for the three charming mermaids, Ariel, Persil and Bold, with an excellent UV scene, particularly the jellyfish, bringing an end to Act I.

After the interval we were transported to American Indian Country with a magnificent Totem Pole and a traditional looking blanket backdrop. Chief Big Willie had excellent stage presence and was well supported by Minnehaha and Tiger Lily. The American Indian dance in this scene was excellent and the Zimmer Frame made a nice touch!

The chorus of adults and youngsters gave sterling support to the principals, as pirates and Indians, and the motley crew of Lost Boys were absolutely delightful and most certainly not revolting!

All the well-loved traditional elements of pantomime were included like the “ghost” scene, this time with a gorilla, and the usual “song sheet” before the finale. There was also a very good fight scene which made use of all of the auditorium.

The script was typical for panto full of corny jokes, and to everyone’s delight audience participation was encouraged from the start, with the nearby town of Chard taking the brunt of many jokes!

There was a lot of “play on words” and “double entendres”, giving the slight underlying impression of an alternative script but managing to stay short of the offensive. Also, although the story bowled along well, at times perhaps some short front-of-tabs scenes were needed to enable scene changes.

The “slap stick” exchange between Smee and the Dame with the kitchen utensils on the rocks was clever but with a lot of crossing across the stage, slowing up the action somewhat, this could have been avoided if the “props” had been placed centrally between them rather than stage left.

Small points for what was overall a very well executed pantomime. A lot of preparation and hard work had obviously gone into the production, with effective scenery, lighting and sound, and some great costumes, particularly the crocodile.

Everyone worked well together giving the strong impression of a very happy team, and of course in the end Peter Pan saved the day! Well done!

Any observation made by the reviewer can only be based on what they see at the performance in question.  The reviewer may have received information in advance of the performance, and it is inevitable that their assessment will be affected by that knowledge.

The N.O.D.A. Representative’s intention is to give an objective critique of the overall production and in particular the performance viewed.  It should be remembered that any review of this nature can only be objective as far as the techniques used during the performance observed.  Any criticisms expressed may not have been valid at other performances and are only made to encourage higher standards in Amateur Theatre.

It is hoped that the audience’s appreciation of your efforts will have given everyone a lift and encouraged you to greater achievements in the future and that the observations made by the reviewer will prove helpful in improving future productions.

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