Peter Pan

BBW brought life to FTH stage with this production. The 68 children were well drilled and are talented but what made this production special was, whether it were the Singers and the opening street scenes, or the Lost Boys, or the Indian Braves or the Pirates or The Mermaids, one and all were focussed on their characters, were their characters, maintained their characters and made the whole believable - truly remarkable and showing excellent training by their mentors. Meanwhile Ruaraidh Blackwood made Peter Pan his own as he gleefully took us on his journey to Never Land, made us see his charisma, his delight in adventure and in the end his pain in choosing not to grow up. His Wendy played assuredly by Hannah Gillies, at first a kindred spirit, grew into the common sense foil to his exuberance. Both convinced in acting and song. Also in clear voice was Rebecca Harris as Mrs Darling, tackling the mother role with grace and common sense. The baddy Captain Hook stalked the stage with confidence and evil intent. Ryan Young undertook this role with that of Mr Darling and revelled in the fight with Peter, a well - choreographed scene. Lewis Dawson as his sidekick Smee ably supported his boss with nice timing.  The narrator morphing into the older Wendy was nicely done by Amber Smith. Also contributing fully were the expressive Jasmine Milne as Tiger Lily whose keen sense of timing and facial expressions made a lasting impression; Alexandra Kerr as the splendidly wicked looking and behaved evil pirate Cookson; and Millie Wright on screen, the delightfully volatile and delicate Tinkerbell who somersaulted so beautifully in the finale. All minor principals, like the children and the aggressive Scottish Lost Boy entered their roles fully. This was a long show for the youngsters and a challenging one for the directors. Mention has to be made of the technical wizardry that flew us to Never Land, gave us the smoothly built Wendy House and created the ship’s setting. This created a wonderful background for the cast to excel. 

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