Peter Pan - A Pantomime Adventure

The production feels like a tale of three gears. In first gear are Olivia Williamson (Tinkerbell) and the ensemble. They get the show moving but seem to take a while to know who they are in the production. Second gear is Samuel Bailey (Peter Pan) and Nikita Johal (Wendy) they work hard to remind us what story we are in and to move the narrative on. Then there is Louise Cielecki (Smee) and Paul Critoph (Starky) who accelerate from third to some hyper gear whenever Anthony Spargo (Captain Hook) appears. Smee and Starky provide the pantomimic silliness – whilst Hook is in total command of the show. Yes, he’s the writer – but he also seems to have the right amount of unhinged mayhem about him that keeps the cast and audience on their toes. In his writing Mr Spargo has opted not to include a pantomime dame, but in the way he commands the stage he really is baddie and dame all rolled into one. (I really hope he casts himself as Dame Trott next year in Jack and the Beanstalk – but I digress).

This in-house production is good. The sets are colourful and change relatively quickly with the aid of the onstage revolve, although I would have liked to see some onstage business whilst the stage was turning. The music is accessible with some well-crafted lyrics although some of the nuances of these are lost. The script is clever – it gives nods to many of the pantomimic traditions whilst regularly throwing a naughty curve ball which has the adults howling. Indeed, I don’t think I heard so many innuendos since Julian Clary launched his reign on the palladium!