If Neverland is supposed to be a place of wonder and fairy dust, then this production of ‘Peter Pan’ does a stellar job at bringing its twinkling spirit to the stage. Through the direction of Lucy Morrell, it is a collage of imagination, spun together with the most delightful puppets, weaving bedtime stories and a dash of enchantment.
Of course, you know the plot. Adapted by Evan Placey, this version cleaves close to JM Barrie’s beloved original. A boy flies in through the window of a London home and befriends 14-year-old Wendy who, after an argument, has decided she despises her mother. So, with her two younger brothers in tow, they decide to take to the skies and head to Neverland - where parents are not around to bother them and growing up is impossible. Here, our Peter Pan is played with giddy mischievousness by Kaine Ruddach: he giggles with the lost boys, unaffected by real-life worries – even the possibility of a battle with the evil pirate Hook seems somewhat comical. And yet, this childlikeness makes him all the more endearing: it’s hard not to match his perma-grin that stretches from ear to ear.
Though Ruddach is a bewitching Peter Pan, there is no doubt that it is the Rose Youth Theatre Company that have this production’s heart, serving fun, games and entertainment in bucketful. Wearing patchwork costumes designed by Oli Townsend, the Lost Boys band together in movement- their dances are as good as any on the West End and there is not one cast member who lets the team down. Props must go to Audrey Johnston though, who animates the nippy dog puppet Nana - seemingly made out of shredded paper into an adorable tail-wagging pet.
Yet even amongst all that talent, the star is Wendy. Played with such expertise by Isla Griffiths, it is difficult to believe she’s not spent years working on a professional stage. Determined and headstrong, yet always kind, she grows visibly older and wiser by the end. She’s a fantastic actor, who can expect to see much more of.
There are some quibbles. Despite all the sprawling playfulness, this is a voyage that lacks any real sense of danger. Michelle Bishop makes Captain Hook a Catherine Tate-inspired comedian, rather than a looming threat. The final battle against the pirates looks more like a playfight than a violent feud. Placey serves up moralistic lines about the difficulty of motherhood and the beauty of being able to choose your family in almost every scene - and all starts to become a bit sentimental. If there was a sprinkling of terror added into the mix, it would seem more balanced.
Perhaps, I’m being too grumpy, because the audience clearly loves it. “Did you like it,” I hear a man ask a trio of smiling girls on the way out. “Yeah, it was real-life magic," one replies. And at Christmas, maybe that’s good enough.