NT Live: PETER PAN. Directed by Sally Cookson.
MEGAN FURNISS reviews
I’ve watched the trailer for the NT Live’s production of Peter Pan more than a few times and every time made me more excited to see the whole production; gorgeous solutions to flying, a huge set, great costumes, lots of action and a female Captain Hook all looked like the perfect recipe for Peter Pan.
The show starts on a mostly bare stage with a grown up Wendy remembering her adventures with Peter Pan, the boy who would never grow up, and suddenly, we are taken back to that time, when Wendy and her brothers John and Michael are being put to bed by Mr and Mrs Darling and Nana the dog (perfectly got up in a frilly maid/poodle outfit), and everybody is running around, up and down ladders and over the bed, and we know we are in for a jolly good romp, or in JM Barrie speak, an awfully good adventure.
Sally Cookson’s adaptation and direction are fantastic. She manages to have huge vison, attention to detail, and deep sensitivity to the emotions of the story, making this long theatre piece absolutely riveting and entertaining.
On to Neverland
We are introduced to the rebellious and energetic Peter and his sidekick Tinkerbell, who is our first experience of gender swapping, since he is a cute, strangely got up man person, who speaks the cutest, almost gibberish. And before long the Darling children have learned to fly and off they go, following Peter Pan out of the window and on to Neverland.
There is a moment when the real world fades, and Mr and Mrs Darling are holding on to bits of walls of a house as they watch the flying children, and the moment marks the transition from domestic comfort to the adventurous world of fantasy, and then, whoosh, we are on to Neverland, a giant circus type playground with ropes and bicycles and graffiti and tons of space to do stuff in.
The ensemble cast manage to play the lost boys, the Darling family, the pirates with such huge success, that it feels like there are a hundred cast members. Other than Wendy and Peter Pan, everybody else doubles (and triples and quadruples) up to play the huge team of friends and foes, and to create the world of adventure and danger they occupy.
This production has it all. Captain Hook is terrifying and irrational and Smee is the perfect snivelling smarmy sidekick, Tiger Lily and her wolves are feisty and strange and other worldly, with the wolves brilliantly conceived as human puppets with crutches for front legs, and the lost boys are amazing; that perfect combination of softness and boyish brashness that makes them utterly loveable. The crocodile is this massive, metal junk puppet in separate parts, choreographed to be fierce and terrifying. Wendy and Peter Pan are extraordinary; managing to pull off a certain tweeness and old fashioned charm by being modern and ballsy as well. (I must confess to generally despising adults playing children, but I didn’t have one, single quibble in this production.)
Astounding attention to detail
The set is astounding, with innovative puppets, attention to detail (beds, tables and doors are used to make the Jolly Roger) and fantastic lighting. There is wonderful live music, a few songs, an amazing sound track, and clever choreography. There are jokes, and scary moments, and even a few really sad ones.
So really, not one single flaw, except for the fact that it wasn’t live. This is the first time, while watching the NT Live screenings, that I have felt how I needed to be there, in the audience, to experience the true scale of this amazing production. I kept wondering what children would think and feel, and I think they would have had to be there in real time too. As a theatre lover more than a lover of children’s theatre I was able to appreciate this production for all its theatricality, but it loses something profound in the screened version.
What: Peter Pan
Where and when: Ster-Kinekor nouveau cinemas on 8 to 9 July and 11 to 12 July
Book: Ster-Kinekor
WS
