Peter Pan Review

St Helen’s Theatre Royal – until 13 January 2019

Reviewed by Carla Whittaker

5*****

Christmas is not Christmas without a panto! I was lucky enough to be able to fly to Neverland and get tickets to watch the J.M Barrie classic Peter Pan at St Helen’s Theatre Royal which is running until 13th January 2019. It could be said that Peter Pan lacks the fairy tale magic often portrayed within other classic pantomimes; however, tonight this was not the case. Peter Pan flew into St Helen’s Theatre Royal with magic, sparkle and humour really keeping it within the pantomime territory! From when the curtain lifts and Wendy and the other darling children fly off to Neverland, the laughs, magic, sparkle and humour are non-stop with the talented actors  injecting modern, comedy moments into the straight scenes too. The production was lively with all the familiar elements of the Peter Pan story including The Lost Boys, Tinkerbell, Captain Hook, Tick Tocking crocodile and Nana the dog but also a reminder of the idiosyncratic  nature of the story of children desperately seeking a mum.

The show starred the finest local talent, Peter Pan captured the guilt free joy that panto is renowned for, and surrounded the audience with a warm, joyful atmosphere. The fantastic local Lewis Devine perfectly played Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up with his impressive dancing, acting and singing.  The talented Georgina Parkinson was fabulous as Wendy Darling with a very grounded portrayal of a young girl who turned into a mum. The popular Strictly Come Dancing Star Kristina Rihanoff  danced on to stage playing the part of Tinkerbell, with a sprinkle of fairy dust, and attitude as well as showcasing her amazing dancing skills which wowed the audience. But, it was the talented, local, versatile Louis Emerick who stole the show as the villainous Captain Hook who the audience loved to hate; with him providing scouse based humour, such as ‘go head’, ‘hear you go lad’, and reference to his days in Brookside and Coronation Street. The audience came alive with his outburst of ‘Mo Salah, Mo Salah, Mo Salah’ with an out roar of either booos or, cheers! The unlikely chemistry on stage between Simon Foster as Mrs Smee and Captain Hook was hilarious with buckets of both classic and modern comedy created a light hearted atmosphere and a ambience that only a Christmas panto can conjure!  There was a  perfect combination of both adult and children directed content making Peter Pan the perfect Christmas entertainment with plenty of opportunity for audience involvement from both adults and children made it purely magical, and perfect performance!

At the age of 32 I have been watching pantomimes annually since the age of about 5, and I have to say this was probably one of the most well directed, scripted and choreographed one I have seen. It was purely brilliant, with excellent sound effects, fantastic costumes, strobe lighting, fireworks and fire, as well as the brilliant 3D effects which really brought the panto to life!