PETER PAN: Barrie, Bham Rep till Jan 18

Birmingham

Peter Pan: JM Barrie
Birmingham Rep: Tkts 0121 236 4455
Runs: 2h 30m, one interval, till Sat 18 Jan
Performances: vary between 10.30, 14.45, 19.30 (inc one on Sun 29 Dec at 14.45)

Review: Rod Dungate, 11 December

This is a magical production that will hold children spellbound – a great number of wonderful moments and two outstanding strengths.
Barrie's story has a perennial quality about it that Peter himself seems to be seeking. Much energy has been expended discussing the darker side of the story – Peter's desire not to grow up, the nature of the Lost Boys, Barrie's relationship with his story. All these discussions are interesting – like wondering about the cruelty of Grimm's fairy stories. But these musings are adult musings – see the stories through a child's eyes and they're quite different – in a way less frightening but more exciting.

So . . . strength number one – Jonathan Church ensures that his production presents the story as children see it. He has thrown away conventional notions of clarity and allows the story to freewheel in the way a young person's imagination does. If things don't appear to hang together it doesn't matter – they will later: and if they don't it doesn't matter either. The boundaries between sea, shore and rock are vague and shift about, a boat has no definite shape. But it doesn't matter because it doesn't matter in children's play – why bother with irrelevancies?

The play itself becomes less fairy story and more children's game – Pirates, Cowboys and Indians (without the cowboys), Mothers and Fathers all rolled into one. The tone is perfectly set by Matthew Kelly and Zoe Aldrich in the opening scene: are they a rather charmingly bizarre Mr and Mrs Darling or are they the children's impression of Mr and Mrs Darling?

And strength number two - Simon Trinder's Peter Pan who sits outside this make believe. Ironically he's more real than the other characters. This Peter's clothes are truly ragged, the green is muted. Trinder's unconventional looks, his incredibly quick movements, his strong regional accent and an apparent well of anger inside him give him a dangerous quality. But where does his anger come from? He tells us – 'I went back home and my window was closed: there was another boy sleeping in my bed.' No wonder he's bitter. His unpredictability – at once brave, strong, cruel, generous, self-centred – gives the character a thrilling quality I've rarely encountered in the play.

Matthew Kelly's Captain Hook is great fun. His performance is cleverly toned down from a pantomime version but broad enough for his cruelty to be scary and funny. His fight with Peter is marvellous – it's long but don't you love every minute.

Rachel Ferjani's Wendy is much to be admired. She avoids her character becoming too twee by presenting Wendy playing at being mother. And her final scene as an adult is genuinely moving – the strangeness of the play's ending and its rightness too owes much to her performance here.

Designs are by Simon Higlett and, for shows at this time of the year, relatively reserved. He achieves a great coup with a split level set in the second half – Braves above ground, Lost Boys below. But he achieves an even greater coup with the crocodile's final appearance.

Mr Darling: Matthew Kelly
Mrs Darling/Mermaid: Zoe Aldrich
Wendy: Rachel Ferjani
John: Peter Darney
Michael: Jenny Ogilvie
Nana the Dog/Mermaid: Alexander Brunati
Liza the Maid: Lorna Laidlaw
Jane: Jenny Ogilvie
Peter Pan: Simon Trinder
Slightly/ Mermaid: Rina Mahoney
Tootles: Dan Hagley
Nibs: Ben Gallaher
Curly: Dave Dickson
The Twin: Alexander Brunati
Captain Hook: Matthew Kelly
Smee: David Sterne
Starkey: Tyrone Huggins
Cecco: Tom Silburn
Cookson: Peter Holdway
Noodler: John Flitcroft
Mullins: Alex de Marcus
Tiger Lily: Lorna Laidlaw
Panther: Peter Holdway

Young Pirates: Matthew Lloyd, Nathaniel Miller, John Partridge, Matthew Clarke

Young Braves, Wolves, Fairies: David Hendrickson, Matthew Lloyd, Nathaniel Miller, Pallavi Sharma, Kathryn Green, Emily Slater, Luke Skidmore, Sally-Ann Adams, Jacob Lloyd, Ezrah Roberts Grey, Eloise Adams, Jack Montgomery, John Partridge, Luke Waite, Matthew Clarke, Anna McKiernan, Amber Weir, Stuart Lighfoot, Cerise Day, Faisal Iqbal, Natalie Smith, Paige Osborne, Peter Mennell, Theo Logan.

2002-12-11 23:05:44