Peter Pan in the recently refurbished Bristol Old Vic
Sitting in the recently refurbished Old Vic in Bristol, whose works ended late this year, still gives you the impression to be in the very heart of Britain’s creativity and its fondness for tradition. What was going to happen on stage with the Sally Cookson’s Peter Pan though, went far beyond any prediction.
The story, written by J. M. Barrie, might be well known: Peter Pan (performed by Tristan Sturrock) is a boy who doesn’t want to grow up so he flies away from any responsibility: college, family life and marriage it’s just not ‘his cup of tea’. In one of his trips outside Neverland he meets Wendy (Madeleine Worrall) and her brothers Michael (Gergo Danka) and John (Isaac Stanmore), convincing them to join the Lost Boys, in desperate need of new bedtime stories. After a quick training about how to free their mind they all fly off to ‘the second star to the right, and straight on till morning’. Magical adventures await them, but who can expect that the evil Pirates led by Captain Hook (Stuart Mcloughlin) are just around the corner to take their revenge on Pan?
An evergreen story that appeals to adults and children in equal measure, on which to experiment new ways of communicating those noble values to the audience. The result of this trial is a unique, daring mixture of acrobatic interplay leading to an eclectic revision of the most beloved fairy story. A handful of good actors ready to jump into the scene with perfect synchrony, Tiger Lily (Theone Rashleigh) and a manly Tinker Bell (Saikat Ahamed) pushing the tradition of pantomime to the limits through an ethnic give and take, the main characters brilliantly walking on a tight rope between prose work and musical… All set up into a modern industrial scenic background.
A spirited version of the masterpiece, with easy to follow dialogue and clever music interludes that made the performance very smooth through all its length. A guaranteed entertainment for the ones who are ready to accept the avant-garde and ‘cutting edge’, just a baffled night for the ones who think some stories should be left pure throughout the centuries, as universal works of art.
For information and ticket purchase visit Bristol Old Vic Official Website