Wendy & Peter Pan

Wendy & Peter Pan

A visually magical production with sound design that truly soars.

Before delving into the bulk of this review, I must first commend someone; perhaps Sound Designer Christopher Shutt or Music Designer Shuhei Kamimura for finally resolving one of my biggest irritations in live theatre. After all my years of attending performances, this production has managed to do what so many others overlook: they’ve added sound effects to the fight sequences. Every sword clash, chink, and punch was audibly supported, making the choreography by Fight Director Terry King even more engaging. If each movement must hit a beat, why not emphasise it with sound? It’s such a simple yet transformative choice. Let this be an inspiration to others. There are also delightful moments of sound design elsewhere, such as the cannonball that audibly travels around the auditorium, a lovely touch that brings the world of Neverland to life.

Visually, the show is a feast. Set and Costume Designer Colin Richmond clearly has a strong vision, and it truly comes alive on stage. The entire story is cleverly framed within the children’s bedroom, with projections spilling over the edge of the proscenium arch to extend the action beyond the room’s boundaries. However, while there are numerous striking moments, each seems to lack a sense of completion, as though several creative ideas were left half-realised.

Harrison Claxton gives a terrific performance as the Crocodile, swooshing his crocodile-green trench coat with great flair, yet this seems to be the extent of the character’s purpose. He could have been replaced with a ticking sound, and the plot would have remained unchanged. The Shadows (ensemble) are a charming concept, filling the stage, adding humour, and cleverly disguising the use of fly harnesses. Later, they reappear as stagehands moving Hook’s ship, though a quick costume change, perhaps to something water-themed, would have made this transition cleaner.

Daniel Krinkler’s Peter Pan has some lovely flying sequences, both with a harness and with the ensemble physically lifting him these work beautifully and deserved more stage time. The adaptation by Ella Hickson, however, strays from J.M. Barrie’s original, and I can’t help but feel the production would have landed better had it remained truer to the source material.

Musically, there are moments that recall The Snowman, though these only occur twice and feel out of place with the rest of the score. The ship set is magnificent, and a few playful breaks of the fourth wall add humour, but they also blur the tone; it isn’t pantomime, but it isn’t not pantomime either. There are jokes for the children, apologetic nods to pop culture, and even the traditional clapping moment feels oddly misplaced. The curtain call, however, is joyous, with the cast dancing as the audience claps along providing a moment of warmth that hints at what could have been if the show leaned a little more into its festive spirit.

Charlotte Mills’ Tink (not Tinkerbell) feels overly harsh; when she finds happiness, the audience doesn’t seem to care much, which is a shame. The light effects used to represent her fairy flight are charming, though. Joe Hewetson’s Martin the Cabin Boy, who accidentally becomes a pirate, is a highlight, a genuinely fresh idea that works well. Toby Stephens as Captain Hook captures the bitterness of a man envious of youth, though this adaptation never explicitly mentions that Peter will never grow up, which seems an odd omission.

The adaptation’s attempts to modernise the story often feel forced. The Darlings’ adoption of four children, clearly added to justify diversity, adds unnecessary exposition without altering the narrative. One child’s death from a cough and subsequent arrival in Neverland is a depressing addition after being told why there are only three lost boys, and the father’s alcoholism and the mother’s suffragette subplot feel tonally misplaced. Ami Tredrea’s Tiger Lily, reimagined as an ethnically ambiguous ninja, feels distant from the brave, loyal leader we might expect.

At times, the pacing feels disjointed, with scenes appearing out of sequence: Hook finds Pan’s hideout at one point, only for the pirates to still be searching in the next. There’s also an unexpected amount of death for what appears to be a family show. Wendy’s “happy thought” being that she is going on an adventure, despite having just spent the entire play on one, feels unconvincing. Finally, to get home they altered the line to become “second star to the left and straight on till evening” this might be whimsical in intention, but it grated on me. Directions are directions, after all.

While there are flashes of brilliance in design, performance, and concept, this Wendy & Peter Pan ultimately feels like a collection of half-fulfilled ideas rather than a cohesive journey.

Photo Credit: Manuel Harlan