
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, Capitol Theatre, 2-9 February – QPAC, Brisbane from 24 March 2025.
Once upon a time, there was a Scottish gentleman named JM Barrie. He was an odd man and lonely, despite being a successful novelist and playwright. In London, he befriended Sylvia and Arthur Llewellyn Davies, whose five small boys were Barrie’s collective muse. Arthur thought him rather strange but harmless, and when both parents died Barrie became the boys' guardian.
Meanwhile, he had written a play, Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up and it was a huge West End hit. Walt Disney bought the film rights in 1938, the year after Barrie’s death, and in 1953, the fabled animation version became an all-time hit.
That’s that back story. But what about Peter Pan? Where did he come from? In 2004 Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson wrote the origin story and novel, Peter and the Starcatcher. A stage version with music, by Rick Elice and Wayne Barker, opened on Broadway in 2012. It picked up nine Tony nominations and won five – all for the production, not the book and lyrics. Apparently, this version has been fiddled with for the Australian tour, and while the staging is spectacular, the book and lyrics are still a bit ho-hum.
Nevertheless, Peter & Co are dazzling in glorious costumes by Anna Cordingley, on an ingenious and imaginative set by director David Morton, with equally creative lighting by Ben Hughes, and fabulous work with the company of actors by movement director Liesel Zink. The puppetry is also a delight, from the various fish, sea creatures, and birds to a four-person crocodile that, of course, swallows the clock.
As the show unfolds – slowly in the first half – the descriptions that come instantly to mind are “totally bonkers”, followed by “enchanting” and “old-fashioned pantomime”. There’s a fart joke, some hiss-the-villain moments, just three “Lost Boys”: Peter, Prentiss and Ted (properly boyish and cute Otis Dhanji, Morgan Francis, Benjin Maza), and Molly – Wendy’s mother (scrumptious proto-feminist boss girl Olivia Deeble).
Predating Captain Hook is Black Stache (Colin Lane) and his – ahem – right-hand man Smee (Pete Helliar) who corner the broadest and silliest laughs and audience interplay. Molly’s pater Lord Aster (Alison Whyte) is the Queen’s man and noble face of British colonialism. Reveling in the melodramatic gifts of characters named Bill Slank and Hawkin Clam, Paul Capsis is a scene-stealer. Likewise, Ryan Gonzalez does more than everything with Grempkin, Mack, Sánchez, and (yes, really) Fighting Prawn.
Adding to the richness of constant nonsense and occasional reality is Captain Robert Falcon Scott (Hugh Parker) who’s excited to be soon setting off to the South Pole. Back in panto-land, gormless Alf (John Batchelor) and severe Mrs Bumbrake (Lucy Goleby) make hilariously unlikely lovers.
At two and a half hours, the show is a bit long for the very littlies, especially the first half, but the pick-up in the second which opens with a rip-roaring number that energises everything that follows is well worth the wait. The sound of many kids laughing was a joy, given the otherwise subdued opening night adult audience.
Also a treat: the presence of on-stage musicians, especially Annie Silva-McKnight (violin, viola, and bass), and the interaction between them and the actors. It’s a skilfully realised production and, blissfully without the costly clichés of CGI and other mod trickery, we discover that yes, a boy can fly and magic does happen. It’s also astonishingly inexpensive for such an extravaganza because dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough!