Peter Pan

This was to be my introduction to Peter Pan in Pantomime and I was looking forward to seeing how director and writer Garry Bailey had adapted this classic tale from its original source by Sir J M Barrie. In particular I was intrigued how Peter, Tinkerbell and the Darling children would magically fly to Neverland.

The stage was preset with a large projected map of Neverland along with the occasional animated fairy twinkle that gave a sense of anticipation to its already excited audience. The opening scene was set in Kensington Gardens complete with an enthusiastic and smiling cast of Londoners.

Traditionally Peter Pan doesn’t have a pantomime dame however it wasn’t long before we were introduced to Mary Boggins (played by Simon Whitehouse) the Darling families nanny who appeared from the wings complete with carpetbag and umbrella.

The Darling Family were made up of Mr & Mrs Darling (Mike Rawlings & Kimberly Cassells), Wendy (Leah Hancox), John (Eva Weston) and Michael (Ethan McQuaid).

The children settled down to sleep in the nursery by the open window and it wasn’t long before Peter Pan (Cathy Rawlings) was spotted along with the mischievous Tinkerbell (Nina Aver).

After the Darling children awoke they were taken on a magical flight to Neverland, which was indeed magical as the cast were projected on to the front gauze as we zoomed over the streets of London and on to meet the Pirates, Indian Braves, Mermaids and sea creatures.

Peter leads the Darling children on a series of adventures, helping to rescue Tiger Lilly played by Chloe Mann and into battle with Captain Hook played by Mike Rawlings.  Christian Sharp in the comical part of Mr Smee ably led the audience through an extremely fast and interactive sing along.

Captain Hook sets a poisonous drink to murder Peter but Tinkerbell steps in to save the day, the results of which cause her near death. Peter turns to the audience and begs those who believe in fairies to clap their hands and Tinkerbell is saved.

In the final climatic battle between Peter and Hook it is the Hungary Crocodile who saves the day before the Darlings are escorted back to the safety of the nursery.

This wasn’t your usual type of pantomime and although there were a number of well-played performances by the principal cast I did find the show rather disjointed to watch.

On the evening that I attend the cast also had to deal with a very vocal member of the audience who was insistent on disrupting the performance on more than one occasion. Well done to everyone involved, as this couldn’t have been easy to deal with.

The selection of music chosen for this production was extremely good and I particularly enjoyed ‘Bring It All Back’ performed by the entire company for the closing number.

Overall Peter Pan as a Pantomime for me has shown that not all pantomimes are created equally and this year I missed the exuberance, glitter and a little of the magic provided in previous years.

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