Leeds Grand Theatre – until Saturday 20 January 2024
5*****
Cornley Polytechnic returns with their classic Christmas (not a pantomime) vignette of Peter Pan in Peter Pan Goes Wrong.
The joy of Mischief is the pure genius in their writing. You can see the jokes coming a mile away – and that just makes them all the funnier. The technical aspects are outstanding; the incidents and accidents precise, concise and well executed. From tiny mishaps such as a falling light missing an actress by millimetres, to the huge disasters that befall the rest of the show, show the high calibre of the writing (Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields) and acting as well as the direction (Adam Meggido), production and technical crew ensuring that everything goes very badly but really well. And with a misbehaving rotund it can be no coincidence that by the end it looks like the death scene on the barricade from Les Miserables!
Peter Pan Goes Wrong is a very visual show within a show which needs to be seen to be believed, so it’s unfair to give away too much of the plot. However there are simple added extras that make the show shine from the start. Being stuck in the theatre foyer due to “technical issues” until almost before the show starts, the stage crew led by Trevor (Jake Burgum) still being in the auditorium as we get seated doing last minute bits, arguing between themselves and asking for help from the audience, and an impromptu rendition of “Happy Birthday” for an audience member.
The show is introduced by Directors Chris Bean (Jack Michael Stacey) and Robert Grove (Matthew Howell). This time with a huge budget due to a generous donation from the uncle of Max (Theo Toksvig-Stewart). It’s then just a splash of glitter as Francis the Narrator (Jean-Luke Worrell) begins the show. Comedy looms with John Darling played by Dennis (Clarke Devlin) who has memory problems so is fitted with “a barely visible headset that will pass on his lines without the audience noticing” that predictably picks up different radio stations, police reports and taxis.
Wendy Darling played by Sandra (Ciara Morris) is flirty and over-acting. She is the girlfriend of Peter Pan played by Jonathan (Gareth Tempest), who thinks he is the star lead, while huge respect goes to Annie (Jamie Birkett) playing Mrs Darling, Liza the Maid, a lost boy and who gets electrocuted in her role of Tinkerbell. Special mention also to Robert’s niece Lucy (Rosemary Akwafo) playing Tootles, who overcomes her crippling stage fright to get the whole audience yelling “I do believe in Fairies”, managing to keep her head and admirably finish the show.
The whole cast and crew are outstanding, and Peter Pan Goes Wrong really has to be seen to get the full effect that a review will never convey. You will laugh to the extent you may feel you are going to suffocate from lack of air. With a donation going to Great Ormond Street Hospital, even though JM Barrie might not recognise this version of his classic tale, you really need to see this show to believe the madness – Mischief at their best. In Leeds until the 20th and on tour around the UK