Wendy & Peter Pan Review – A Sugar Rush Scene with a Very Big Hormonal Crush | stage

THis play is titled Revisionism in Ella Hickson’s feminist version of J.M. Barrie’s tale of eternal childhood. However, ironically, it seems as if this Royal Shakespeare Company production from 2013 has not aged well.

Wendy (Hannah Saxby) is the protagonist here, as she grieves for her young brother who died and seeks to find him and bring him back from Neverland. Despite the recast, she remains strangely tame, playing the role of “mother” to the lost boys, full of uncertainty, self-deprecation, and guilt for most of the play. So, when she suddenly decides to form a sisterly bond with Tink (Charlotte Mills) and Tiger Lily (Amy Tridrea) — “Let’s go kick some pirates” — it comes out of nowhere, and she feels completely stuck. Mrs. Darling (Lolita Chakrabarty) is also given more power, seizing freedom in her marriage and speaking out for women’s suffrage, but is removed from the main drama.

Peter Pan (Daniel Krekler) faces his own internal crisis that bears an uncannily similar resemblance to hormonal desire. He appears to be more of a teenager than a boy and has urges as well, clearly having a huge crush on Wendy, giving her shy kisses and calling her “babe”. It’s a strange thing about the story of the boy who refuses to grow up: this person looks like he’s losing that battle and it’s fun to watch.

According to the programme, production has been “developed and expanded over the years”. It’s directed by Jonathan Munby, and by now it’s quite theatrical beast, with dazzling lights and a sea of ​​video projections (designed by Taiki Ueda) saturating the stage with waves. There is impressive aerial work and the Jolly Roger trumpeted memorably onto the stage more than once.

It should all appeal to the senses, but it feels like a cheap spectacle that doesn’t quite hit the spot. The actors rush around, often shouting or shouting their lines so that they actually look like adults playing children with great verve. The accompanying music, composed by Shuhei Kamimura, sounds like a generic “pirate action movie” score and is clumsily set up for each sword fight.

There’s good movement (choreographed by Lucy Hind) that slows down the hectic pace; And some secondary characters like Hawk’s right-hand man, Smee (Scott Crim), along with Tiger Lily played with panache by Treadrea, bring some charm along with the menacingly wandering Crocodile (Harrison Claxton, perfectly fit).

Not enough to clear procedures. Despite the pace, it drags. What might have been radical in its original state now seems like a soulless theatrical juggernaut – a mish-mash of big Christmas optics and pantomime. Captain Hook (Toby Stevens) channels a pure panto villain (while philosophizing about aging) and Tink seems like a Cockney fairy. When a character asks flatly, “They’re behind me, aren’t they?” The pantomime is complete.