Chris Eldon Lee reviews ‘Peter Pan in Scarlet’, which is at the New Vic in Newcastle Under Lyme until Saturday 6th of August.
The boy who refused to grow up would have been over 100 years old by now. To mark his centenary, his guardians at Great Ormond Street Children’ Hospital commissioned the author Caroline McCaughrean to write an official sequel to his original adventures. The resultant novel, ‘Peter Pan in Scarlet’, has now been adapted for the stage by Theresa Heskins and it premiered this week at the New Vic in Stoke on Trent to a rapturous response. Typical of Theresa’s family work, it is energetic and exuberant; packed to the gills with ingenuity and – that most vital child-like ingredient of all – imagination. So much is going on at such a pace I found myself sitting back and letting the spectacle wash over me rather than try to rationalise matters.
Like the original, it’s an episodic compendium of adventurous events – but the storyline sort of goes like this. It’s 20 years later and all the children (except Peter of course) have grown up and are following their careers rather than their dreams. John is a banker. Tootles is a doctor (with dangerous hand writing). But, luckily for us, they do still dream and the dreams they are having are alarming. Never Never Land is in trouble. Peter needs help. “Now, where did I put that fairy dust?”
The underlying premise is that if you put on other peoples’ clothes you start to become like them (which would put a bit of a kybosh on Charity Shops). So if you put your childhood clothes on again, you return to your own childish self.
Peter Pan meanwhile has defeated Captain Hook with the deliciously clever line of “Hand Up!” and is promenading in his red tunic. Pan has always been an edgy character but, in his enemy’s coat, Isaac Stanmore (pictured) gives him even more bombastic and barbaric tendencies.
And so we have a tasty recipe for irresponsible daring do’s. “Courage is the thing. Look danger in the face. The only rule is not to grow up”.
The play acting is superb. Children love seeing grownups being children and all the cast excel at this. Suzanne Ahmet’s body language is so spot on she seems to shrink to child size; whilst at story time, wriggling Michael Hugo picks his neighbour’s nose with his toes. And some of the best gags are aimed straight at the youngest members of the audience. Who wouldn’t be sacred of a witch that makes you go to bed whilst it’s still light?
The kids in the audience might not get all the off-the-wall absurdities. At times the show was so chaotic and impressionistic it reminded me of The Beatles LSD-infused ‘Magical Mystery Tour’. But they will love (as I did) the performing circus bears and the outrageous way the cast cleverly constructs a wave-tossed boat out of playground swings.
Indeed much of the show takes place off the ground with the New Vic’s trademark acrobatic silk banners replacing tired old panto wires and stretching the actors’ gymnastic grace. The physicality throughout is refreshing and the fey clowning of Firefly the Fairy (Michael Hugo again) is to wonderfully witty he keeps drawing the eye. This contrasts beautifully with a calm, still centred performance by Andrew Pollard as a kind of avuncular uncle, given permission to preside over the fun.
It’s all played out to an almost constant backdrop of lively 1930’s hot club jazz, (the highlight is a tick-tocking crocodile song), led by the hugely versatile musical director James Atherton, who is so much of a fixture now at the New Vic he’s even given a line to say.
This is total theatre with warmth, wit and wonderment. There is so much to see, simply cherry pick your own best bits and be content to let a little of it slip through your fingers.
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