PETER PAN
PETER PAN, at Belvoir St, 5 January-10 February 2013. Photos by Brett Boardman - the company and (right) Jimi Bani as the Crocodile.
BY FELICITY LOLA DAYHEW (age 9) (with a few thoughts by her godmother, DIANA SIMMONDS).
Peter Pan was a very funny and an easily enjoyable play. I think that it is good for the whole family, kids and adults. It was originally written by JM Barrie, as a book, but this play was written by Tommy Murphy, who I met. The director’s name is Ralph Myers, who I also met. The set was designed by Robert Cousins and the costumes were designed by Alice Babidge and they were really good.
My favourites were Peter Pan and Wendy who were played by Meyne Wyatt and Geraldine Hakewill because they made the most of the jokes like children being “no hearted”.
Charlie Garber played Captain Hook. I liked him too because he made the bad guys seem not so bad.
The play is about three children who one night find a boy, called Peter Pan, standing at their window. He teaches them to fly, and they go with him to a land called Never Land. There, they have to defeat Captain Hook, who wants to kill Peter. Along the way they see mermaids and escape from a Crocodile which you could hear coming because he swallowed a clock (not very silent but deadly).
Part of the set (a bed) was able to change into different things such as a ship and other surprises that you will have to wait and see. To represent Tinkerbell they rang bells and flashed lights so you could tell she was coming.
I guess the moral of this story is that it is good to grow up.
DIANA SIMMONDS writes: it was a delight to watch Peter Pan in the company of Felicity, my favourite girl in the whole world, because she was on the edge of her seat for most of the show and I had no idea what she would make of it. (Her review is all her own work - no prompting or help.)
In any event, it's impossible not to get caught up in the vivid imagination of the production: this is how you'd do Peter Pan if you and your school mates were acting it out in your bedroom - the bunk bed and desk become all the necessaries such as the pirate ship, an island and so on; and how better to conjure up a crocodile than with a cardboard box and a green sleeping bag? You probably wouldn't have Damien Cooper doing the lights, however, and they are terrific.
The creative and visual impetus of the show is authentically childlike and it works: you don't have to be asked to believe, you just do because that's how these things happen in fairyland and that's that. The conviction is compelling and it envelops the players too.
There is much doubling and trebling by the talented and energetic cast - the Lost Boys, the Pirates - and the conviction and verve each actor brings to the roles could only be more thrilling if one was invited in to play with them. As it is, Peter Pan (Meyne Wyatt in his best work to date) is a beguiling boy whose demand that we all believe in fairies is taken up with great enthusiasm by the audience - of all ages.
Paula Arundell goes from Mrs Darling to a Twin lost boy, pirate and god knows what else in a twinkling, as does Megan Holloway, John Leary and Gareth Davies. As the Crocodile, Jimi Bani is extremely crocodilian and he's also cute as one of the Darling brothers. Special mention for Harriet Dyer - who last sparkled in Bell Shakespeare's School For Wives and does the same here as The Twins - both - in some hilariously sharp choreography and funny business.
Altogether, this new Peter Pan, with a script that pays homage but doesn't get bogged down in the wordy original. All in all, this show is a triumph for Ralph Myers and his team - easily the best he's done since taking over at Belvoir. Hurrah for all and don't forget to book tickets for the entire family.
