Peter Pan
Panto really doesn’t come any better than this superb offering from the Theatre Royal, and I applaud the management and city council for commissioning a brand new adaptation.
The script and direction come from Nicholas Pegg, whose home town this is. He’s entirely faithful to Barrie’s story, but everything about the show is fresh and sparkling, with a feel-good factor that comes from lashings of colour, warmth and energy.
Musical numbers, typified by Dream a Little Dream With Me, have a jazz tempo. The flying sequences and settings are magic, there are classic sword fights, and a laser Tinkerbell fragments into scatterings of light and sound. The Acroloons provide breathtaking gymnastics and tumbling in slapstick form, and Paul Gabriel (Smee), Stuart Crossman (Starkey) and Richard Earl (Jukes) are the daftest trio on earth.
The show is written for this particular cast, which gives the dialogue naturalness and fluency. So John Challis’ splendid Hook gets lines that really suit him - “Great Scott, I’ve got a hot bot!” he exclaims as he sits on the Lost Boys’ chimney. Debra Stephenson is a jaunty Pan and Alison Thea-Skot’s Mrs Darling is as credible as a character from E Nesbit. Such a good night.
Production information
- By:
- JM Barrie, adapted by Nicholas Pegg, who also directs
- Management:
- Theatre Royal Nottingham by arrangement with Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity and Samuel French Ltd
- Cast:
- Debra Stephenson, John Challis, Paul Gabriel, Catriana Sandison, Alison Theaskot, Stuart Crossman, Richard Earl, Debbid Leigh-Simmons, The Acroloons
- Choreography:
- Chadd Garvie
- Musical direction:
- Simon Townley
Production information can change over the run of the show.
Run sheet
- Theatre Royal Nottingham
- December 7 2007-January 20 2008
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