Peter Pan Jr.

It is my privilege to write the report for a show that was performed in a Theatre steeped with history that has now, sadly, closed its doors for good.

Billingham Players Youth Theatre group set to the stage with the JM Barrie classis, ‘Peter Pan Jr’ last weekend and what a swash – buckling adventure it was.

Leading the way in the titular role of Peter Pan was Katie Thompson. A young lady with a big future in the theatrical industry. She performed like she had been doing it for years. Great stage presence and vocals to match. Well done.

Katie was eagerly followed by Tinkerbell, aka Frances Alexander. Not a word did she have to speak however the sass was in barrels!

The Darling family comprised of Brooke Maull and Lottie Fisher as Mr and Mrs Darling, with Maddison Watson, Imogen Davies and Phoenix Forster as Wendy, John and Michael respectively. All characters were very well presented on stage and all seemed to bat well off each other. Never an easy thing to do but you all managed it.

Leading the way of the baddies was Captain Hook played by Frankie Adam accompanied by Smee who was played by Chloe Hamill. Both of their characterisations brought absolute hilarity to the audience which was fantastic. They worked so well together and bounced their lines off each other with ease.

All other characters were brought with power and pride to the stage which was a true joy to see. Every member of the cast clearly had worked so hard on this production and it showed. All vocals were powerful in the numbers and we clear in diction.

Simplistic set with a gorgeous giant fire place upstage centre with simple lighting helped the show along. The backstage team and production team should be very proud of all the children on that stage.

As I said in my speech on stage, to a lot of people, the closure of this beautiful Theatre is such a tragic loss. Anyone who has been associated with the Theatre Upstairs in Billingham will, I am sure, miss it tremendously.

To BPYT, I would like to say that you gave the place a great send off and I look forward to seeing you perform in your new premises.

Thank you.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.