Peter Pan – Olivier Theatre

Saikat Ahamed and Paul Hilton in Peter Pan at the Olivier Theatre, London. Picture: Steve Tanner

Peter Pan continues at the Olivier Theatre (National Theatre), London until 4 February 2017.

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Not very much of Sally Cookson’s inventive version of JM Barrie’s children’s classic Peter Pan was what I was expecting, but it was still an awesome show and even had my six-year-old brother in fits of giggles.

Right at the start we meet Mr and Mrs Darling, who are so wacky they make my own Mum and Dad seem almost normal, as they prepare to go on a night out and leave their children in the care of Nana, a dog played by a man wearing frilly ears

That wonderful actress Anna Francolini doubles up as Mrs Darling and Captain Hook so we get two of her for the price of one! Splendid.

While Mum and Dad are out, Peter Pan (Paul Hilton, excellent) comes to the Darling children’s nursery looking for his shadow, which he got separated from when a window got closed on him.

It is there he meets Wendy and her brothers and teaches them to fly by telling them “a wonderful thought in your head can lift you off the ground”. I am going to try it when I get home.

As my brother soon pointed out: “they can’t actually fly, they are using those strings!”, by which he meant a clever system of pulleys and ropes that are used so brilliantly through the whole show.

We also get to meet Tinker Bell for the first time, who isn’t the pretty fairy I know from Barrie’s storybook, but instead a mad, angry little man with lightbulbs on his head, who speaks in some sort of gibberish that only Peter Pan seems to understand.

Peter then flies all the Darling children through amazing scenery, as they travel past planets and clouds on their journey. The stage is full of colour and flashing lights and the music makes it very magical as they arrive in Neverland.

Here we meet more unusual characters, a Tiger Lily with a strong Scottish accent who is fearless and lives with a pack of wolves, played by men using crutches for their front legs.

Then there are the poor Lost Boys (who have no mothers), lots of Pirates, singing mermaids wearing sparkly disco sequins, and the biggest surprise of all – Captain Hook is a lady with glinting silver teeth and great boots!

The band are really brilliant and play lots of dramatic music to help tell the story and there are some good songs in the show too, mostly composed by Benji Bower.

I liked Wendy (Madeleine Worrall, who’s the real star) singing ‘Suddenly I Am Older’ to Peter best, although the Lost Boys singing ‘Close to You’ (Bacharach/David) is also really well done.

There are plenty of funny jokes and so much to look at all the time, it is impossible to take your eyes off the stage. The most incredible scene of all is when Captain Hook is eaten by the Crocodile, who has glowing red eyes. I also really liked it when the whole audience had to join in the clapping to save Tinker Bell’s life.

Apart from Sally Cookson’s inspired direction, a big shout-out to Michael Vale’s set, Katie Sykes’ costumes and Aideen Malone’s lighting, all brilliant.

From the cast of 15, Saikat Ahamed’s Tinker Bell and Lois Chimimba’s Tiger Lily left a lasting impression, and Ekow Quartey was great as Nana and Tootles, the funniest of the Lost Boys.

Definitely a show the whole family will love and it is worth buying the programme  too, as it doubles up as a Neverland Journal, which has lots of creative activities for kids to do on the train home.

This co-production with the Bristol Old Vic is in town until 4 February so no problem for that not-so-fairyland place, the Bank of Mum and Dad, to know what to do with its money!

Scarlett Maxwell (aged 9)

Tickets for Peter Pan at the Olivier Theatre are available HERE.