kook

Peter Pan

Malvern Theatres

**

The scene is set with Stuff and Nonsense before the little Darlings are whisked off on an adventure to Neverland with Peter Pan, in this musical adaptation of the well-loved classic tale by J.M. Barrie.

Anne Dalton, director and writer from ABD Productions, includes the characters we are all familiar with and adds interesting new additions to this retelling including water sprites, dancing planets, friendly flames and the flamboyant storyteller Neverbird, Bradley Bowckett, who kept shaking his tail feathers and telling diabolical jokes even my 6-year-old daughter groaned at.

Celebrating local young performers, the lead roles of John and Michael Darling were actually performed by brothers Lochie and Raphael Reid from The Downs, Malvern and Tinker Bell is played by 10 year old Chanel Fulton from Northleigh School and a pupil at Ballet Malvern.

In Act One the song Are We Just Going Round In Circles really did make me feel dizzy as it was performed first by The Lost Boys, then the Pirates, then the Indians and then a fourth time with all three groups together caught in a repetitive loop.

To finish off Act One Captain Hook, David Thomas, and his band of pirates attack Peter Pan, Elliott Hanna, Wendy, Georgia Chadwick, and The Lost Boys leaving Peter for dead at the Mermaid’s Lagoon where the feisty feathered Neverbird saves the day and rescues Peter.

Act Two gets underway with a party to celebrate a new-found friendship with the Red Skins who join together to unsuccessfully outwit villain Captain Hook. While everyone is captured and held prisoner on the Jolly Roger, Peter is nearly poisoned only to be saved by Tinker Bell’s intervention. The audience are then asked to clap to show they believe in fairies which will save Tink’s life, phew!

The ticking crocodile eventually gobbles up Hook and Wendy takes her brothers and The Lost Boys back home to Bloomsbury after a heartfelt goodbye with Peter and Tinker Bell.

More fairy dust would be needed to make this production sparkle but it certainly looked like a lot of fun was had by the youngsters and professional cast on stage. To 26-08-18.

Emma Trimble

22-08-18 

Index page Malvern  Town Hall Reviews A-Z Reviews by Theatre