Panto has come a long way since I started reviewing back in the 1990s. No more shonky sets and wonky donkeys, it’s all rather stylish on stage at the Royal and Derngate this Christmas. Just remember to take your coat if you’re in the stalls…more of that later on.
The old-style curtain has gone and an apparently hi-tech ‘scrim’, a sort of translucent screen that you can project effects onto, makes for a stunning flying-through-the-stars effect for Peter and Not-Wendy.
Maybe it’s a sign of my age but Gordon Cooper’s Dame, Mrs Sweet, had a variety of outrageous costumes that just looked, well, very nicely made and barring the enormous bustles and hats, wearable…just me? Look at the sailor dress, very stylish.
Anyway, to the plot: it’s not the Peter Pan you may remember, with the tradition of a girl playing Peter as Sophie Lawrence did, (with David Essex as Hook), back in 2007 at Derngate. Nowadays Peter is a real boy – or in this case, actor and singer David Breeds who just reminded me of a much younger, slimmer Michael McIntyre. (Pretty sure he can belt out a tune better than The Wheel host though).
In The New Adventures of, we meet Poppy Sunshine (Millie Davies), an sweet and adventurous young girl living in an orphanage under the sweet care of Miss Doodle (the excellent Simone Robinson, who doubles up as Myrtle the Mermaid later on. She’s got a huge voice and great stage charisma despite not being a ‘main’ character.)
Listening to Charlie (Oliver Scott) and George (CBeebies’s George Webster) read a bedtime story about Peter Pan’s previous adventures with the Darling children, Poppy dreams of going to Never Never Land and meeting the Lost Boys (and Girls, it’s 2025, for goodness sake).
And so it transpires. Poppy flies off with the lively Tinkerbell (a sparky performance by Georgia Brierley-Smith) to meet Peter, the lost kids and defend mothers, as the ungrateful brats seem to have rather fallen out of love with their previous pretend ‘mother’ Wendy.
Cue pirate baddy Captain Hook (John Thomson, who did a good line in knowing looks, but in places mumbled through the lyrics in his song and dance numbers), a load of dancing shipmates and a lot of slapstick, including a rather laboured scene with Charlie and Mrs Sweet making ‘ice-cream’ which just seems like a way to torture an actor with repeated spurts of shaving foam to the face, (twice a day for matinees). Kids around us seemed to agree, as they started to fidget and lose interest. I’m sure it will evolve as the run gets going.
There’s plenty for the traditionalists – the ghost bench is back, there’s an audience soaking with water pistols (five rows back, we got pretty soaked), a poor dad got chosen to be Mrs Sweet’s new Mister, and some references to dead brands from the olden days like Blockbuster and Topman which will mean nothing to the young’uns.
But the big early song ‘n’ dance number that grabs their attention is a version of the ubiquitous Golden from K-Pop Demon Hunters which made every under 9-year-old sing along at full volume. In fact the singers are fantastic this year, with Davies, Robinson and Brierley-Smith (Poppy, Myrtle and Tink) belting out the songs (I do hope the vocals stand up to a full month of shows).
There’s a convoluted plot about finding the essence of Christmas and lots of fight scenes and big finale and impressively fast costume changes.
TANAoPP is a decent show with some classy touches in a sea of seasonal theatre – although part of me misses that time the leg fell off the flying unicorn and the flying wire work looked more precarious than polished.
But for families who already have tickets, or anyone who just wants a couple of hours of full-on fun, you’re in for a tasty seasonal treat. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you about keeping your coat handy…
The New Adventures of Peter Pan runs at Royal & Derngate Northampton until Wednesday December 31. Click for tickets or call the box office on 01604 624811
