Join our high-flying hero, Peter Pan, as he transports the Darlings on an adventure they will never forget, filled with evil pirates, a very hungry crocodile and the meanest man in Neverland, Captain Hook played by BAFTA, Tony Award and two-time Olivier Award-winner Robert Lindsay in his first pantomime debut!
Joining Robert will be comedy impressionist and Britain’s Got Talent finalist, Jon Clegg as Mr Smee, West End star Rachel Stanley (Officer and A Gentlemen, Scrooge The Musical, Legally Blonde) as the Magical Mermaid, and Harry Francis (Book of Mormon, A Chorus Line, Fiddler on the Roof) as the boy who never grew up, Peter Pan.
With tickets soaring out of the Box Office, audiences shouldn’t leave it any longer to embark on the Jolly Roger and set sail for this year’s sensational, swashbuckling show.
Our Verdict
Panto is a funny old thing. It’s wildly eccentric and completely bonkers at times, and much like any kind of theatre performance a bad panto can be absolutely excruciating - but a good panto? Well, a good panto can be completely and utterly joyful, and I am pleased to say that that is exactly what this year’s offering at Richmond’s beautiful theatre is.
The story of Peter Pan is one we are nearly all familiar with and this production revisits all the familiar, magical moments – Nana in the nursery, the (adorable) Lost Boys, flying off to Neverland, Tiger Lily’s exotic camp, Peter’s underground hideout and of course - the chilling Jolly Roger, all brought to life with great sets, clever lighting, and plenty of sparkles. The overall plot is whizzed through at a rate of knots, but this is panto after all. The flying is wonderful and appears effortless (although I’m sure it’s not), and there’s also a very impressive crocodile that I wish we could have seen a bit more of.
But the real star of the show is, well, its stars. Harry Francis is absolutely delightful as Peter Pan – a real talent who can act, fly and sing beautifully all at the same time! I found his ‘to live will be an awfully big adventure’ moment genuinely touching. Rachel Stanley’s Mimi the Mermaid, who can be reached on her ‘shell phone’ naturally, is a complete joy, with her long sequined tale, flowing blonde locks and TOWIE-esque cries of ‘OMG!’ and ‘whatevs’. The ship’s lovable bo'sun Smee, played by Britain's Got Talent 2014 finalist Jon Clegg, delights the audience throughout with his brilliant impressions (his Donald Trump getting a particularly rapturous response), and masters the art of some wonderful audience participation in the second act. I must also mention the ensemble’s Ben Somerside, who stole the show on several occasions with his hilarious performance as a wonderfully camp pirate – ‘the Jolly Roger is not that jolly’, snarls Hook.
There is no doubt that the Captain of this particular panto ship is accomplished actor Robert Lindsay, who is quite simply brilliant as Hook. A captivating mixture of Jonny Depp’s charismatic Captain Jack Sparrow (complete with casual swagger and heavy black eyeliner) and the menace of Fagin from Oliver! – a character that Lindsay has played before. Despite the fact that this is Lindsay’s panto debut, he is a natural fit for the genre; his dry, witty delivery had all ages laughing (and heckling), and his timing is impeccable. He was convincingly threatening at times, winning a regular chorus of guttural boos from the crowd – “we need all the booze we can get on this ship” he winks. One minute he is tearing the wings from Tinkerbell (performed bravely on roller-skates by Isobel Hathaway), and the next he is sulkily chastising the orchestra for not providing him with a more villain-worthy musical intro. I particularly enjoyed his Mastermind-style interrogation of Smee, in order to ascertain if he was intelligent enough to be a member of the Jolly Roger crew – you can probably guess how that unfolds.
The music, skillfully played by The Richmond Theatre Orchestra, is also a real highlight, particularly the sprinkling of familiar modern pop songs that immediately had both young and old clapping and dancing in their seats. Played by Keisha Marina Atwell, Tiger Lily’s rendition of 'No Place I'd Rather Be’ was particularly enjoyable. We were also treated to a couple of songs from Lindsay’s time as Fagin that have been cleverly ‘Hooked’, such as “You've Got To Pick a Pirate or Two”, which he delivered with aplomb. But my personal highlight had to be Mimi the Mermaid and Hook’s hilarious duet, a unique interpretation of ‘Can't Take My Eyes Off You’ - “at long last love has arrived, you’d taste delicious fried” etc.
The only blip throughout the show involved a rather tedious and dated routine where Smee attempts to tell a story using a supermarket trolley filled with packets of biscuits, which I feel no one would miss if it was cut, particularly Jon Clegg who has to perform it.
Panto is, of course, one of life’s great Marmite matters but love it or hate it there is no doubt that it is good, old-fashioned, glitter-filled fun for all the family, and for some (myself included) a ‘warm and fuzzy’ festive tradition that is looked forward to year after year. Peter Pan is 120 minutes of glorious escapism, which is no bad thing in a time of Brexit, and Lindsay’s Hook is one of the most memorable panto villains I’ve ever seen. So if you ask me, there has never been a better time to fly away to Neverland.
Google
Yahoo
Outlook
ical
