The Rose Theatre, Kingston – until Sunday 7 January 2024
Reviewed by Carly Burlinge
5*****
By J.M Barrie, in a new version by Evan Placey
The Rose Theatre brings you their Christmas production, outstanding once again, with only a handful of professional actors accompanied by some very talented young performers, that truly had some exceptional acting skills. Showing a strong performance throughout, with a bond that was clear to see.
The magical story of Peter Pan that we all know, and love was shown before our eyes, with new elements introduced making it that little bit more special and kicking off the Christmas season with a bang!
Peter Pan (Kaine Ruddach) arrives at Wendy’s window to whisk her off to the world of Neverland, playing a vibrant full of life character never wanting to grow up. Only for Wendy to discover that being a grown up around the lost boys is a lot more stressful than she thought, which opens up her eyes towards her feelings for her mother, because after all everyone needs some “Mummy Time”. She was a delight to watch throughout with a wonderful singing voice.
Captain Hook / Mrs Darling (Michelle Bishop) gave a strong performance, very dramatic and stern. She had a lot to offer as a pirate with her trusty side kick Smee (Dominic Rye), who played a simple but amusing character bringing laughter across the audience with his stupidity.
The Lost Boys were just exceptional to watch; so many varied characters that gave an awesome performance with their amazing catchy songs and dance moves, whilst bouncing off of each other, making the audience smile and laugh throughout
The Pirates, well what can I say? They offered much personality, were witty and creative. Their intelligence seemed questionable at times only providing more comedy to the show.
Tigerlilly (Shona Maggo) played her normal part as an outsider but willing to help in any situation.
The set was enchanting and magical, with the little details making it so much more. The little ship that sits in the background, the hook for the window latch, the twinkling stars upon the ceiling and the puppetry, with Nanna the dog and the incredible Tinker Bell. I really loved the expressions of the handlers, who were so involved, just remarkable! It was lovely looking across the theatre to see big smiling faces and laughter from both adults and children, whilst they absorbed the captivating scene before them.
I took my 11-year-old daughter with me, her opinion on this show was “their voices were amazing, strong and powerful. I loved the first song with catchy lyrics and outstanding moves. I especially loved the magical waves and props, everything in my eyes was just magical.”
What an outstanding performance by all! A truly magical experience that really gets you into the Christmas spirit – well worth a watch!