THE STAGE REVIEW | PETER PAN

Peter Pan

Published Tuesday 13 December 2011 at 10:43 by Susie Wild

Yo ho ho! The boy who will never grow up leads a large cast on an overly-ambitious swashbuckling festive adventure. Beginning with a good ole cockney knees-up, this patchy pirate tale transports the prim and proper Wendy and her brothers away from their traditional, Conservative London home to the freer, fairy-populated Neverland. Calum Small is suitably stubborn and sprightly as the airborne Peter Pan. Llinos Thomas makes a prettily-voiced lovestruck Wendy and BBC Radio Wales personality Owen Money is his affable self as Smee.

The plot doesn’t throw up any big surprises. There is an unfurling love story between Peter Pan and Wendy which results in a horribly histrionic Tinkerbell (Becci Lewis), and a battle to rescue the Lost Boys from the dastardly Captain Hook. An elaborate set causes stilted scene changes and a disjointed pace. Still, as the show is packed full of audience participation, from ants-in-your-pants actions to the standard shouts of “He’s behind you!” there are few dull moments. Highlights include acrobatic flight, a UV skeleton dance, under-the-sea SpongeBob SquarePants puppetry, and a comic interlude of name-guessing between the pirates Smee, What and How. This season’s most popular song choice - Katy Perry’s Firework - becomes the sing-a-long finale.

Production information

Blackwood Miners' Institute, Gwent, December 12-28, then touring until February 19

Author:: Alan Wightman
Director:: Owen Money
Producer:: Rainbow Valley Productions
Cast includes:: Owen Money, Lloyd Davies, Calum Small, Russell Gomer, Llinos Thomas, Becci Lewis
Running time:: 2hrs 20mins

Production information can change over the run of the show.

Comments

BOOK REVIEW: 'one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Welsh writing in English'

There is a wonderful extended review essay 'Ecological Literacy' by Steven Lovatt in the latest issue of New Welsh Review exploring recent books that seek to restore natural and cultural ecologies and recognise how the cultural nature of our landscapes is preserved in language. It offers an in-depth look at This Common Uncommon by Rae Howells, and here are three of our favourite snippets: "Rae Howells’ new poetry collection, This Common Uncommon , is a fierce and loving affirmation of the local, exemplifying the sort of care-full attention to the interdependence of people, other animals and plants that will be required if anything worthwhile is to be saved from the present ruin." "Howells confirms the evidence of her first collection, The Language of Bees, that she is a highly adept poet, possessing one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Welsh writing in English." "If West Cross Common is developed for housing, nobody can now claim ignoran...

POETRY COMPETITION: The Borzello Trust Poetry Prize

Just a reminder that the Borzello Trust Prize for Poetry is open for entries until 31 January 2025. Niall and I look forward to reading your words... This year we are thrilled to open a second category of the New Welsh Writing Awards with many thanks to the generous support from The Borzello Trust. Supporting in the development of yet unpublished poets living, working or from Wales, the winner of The Borzello Trust Prize for Poetry will receive a £500 development publishing contract with Parthian Books/The Borzello Trust. Including mentorship from Susie Wild to develop a poetry collection that (following publication) will be distributed via The Borzello Trust to over 250 Welsh libraries and schools. There will be a £150 cash prize to the five highly commended entries and publication in a special anthology collection published by Parthian Books. Winner: £500 as an advance on a book development contract with Parthian Books, for publication on their poetry list, plus mentorship/developm...

Raconteur Photo Snapping

Some shots from The Raconteur shoot with Tom Beardshaw

Wildlife

Search This Blog