It’s always a delight to return to the Rose Theatre, Kingston for their Christmas production involving the Rose Youth Theatre, and Peter Pan is well up to their usual high standard. Once again, a small number of professional actors appear alongside a large number of talented and well-rehearsed young people. Crucially, the two groups are seamlessly integrated: this is not professional performers with a young ensemble, but a united team.

Although the script is a new adaptation (by Evan Placey), much of J M Barrie is still there, including the whimsy and archness which can be wearing today: the thimbles and kisses are included, as is the clapping for the fairy, but there is a welcome change to the character of Tiger Lily, presented here as something of an outcast and loner. A few mentions of notions like stranger danger and daily steps seem to be out of place rather than bringing the text up to date, as was presumably intended.

There are two groups of twenty young people in the production, playing alternate performances, so it seems unfair on the young cast to mention names, but with a standard this high, the second cast will be just as good. The performance of Isla Griffiths as Wendy must be mentioned however; an entirely committed portrayal and beautifully sung. A framing device sees a Grandmother telling the story, and Ella Waldman as Ralph is an enthusiastic listener, and helps to draw the audience into the plot.

The puppets (by Judith Hope) are used well, and operated with great care. The crocodile is very effective, and Nana/Noodler is popular with the audience. The sequence with the children as puppets flying over London was well done though over very quickly, and less effective than it might have been as we also saw the actors through the gauze at the same time. Tinkerbell is usually portrayed with a light or by an actor; in this case, it is a young actor carrying a light. She does so with as much animation as possible, but even the most enthusiastic advocate of object theatre would baulk at creating character from such a simple ball of light.

The author has drawn on various versions of the play and story, and it is no surprise at the end when the character of Gran becomes part of the story as the older Wendy, as in the epilogue written by Barrie. Hilary Maclean manages the shift from narrator to protagonist well. Kaine Ruddach is one of the other professional actors in the production and plays Peter Pan with a welcome touch of earthiness. Dominic Rye is an irascible Mr Darling with the bow-tie business and the kennel at the end, but really comes into his own as an endearing Smee.

Which leaves the towering performance of Michelle Bishop as Captain Hook (and indeed Mrs Darling). This is a magnificent performance by an actor who can play a traditionally male Captain Hook with ease. After all, many of the young girls in the cast play male characters, and very successfully, not least Mimi Forster as Michael, who also steps forward confidently at the end to make a curtain speech.

The adapter also makes some other changes which seem to work against the meaning of the play, which is about mothers if it is about anything; at one point, Peter Pan seems to be turning into Buttons, about to take Wendy to the ball but in the original, he sees her as a mother not a partner. The moral of this adaptation seems to be that we all have to grow up, whereas Barrie’s stance is that growing up is to be avoided at all costs: to change the meaning so fundamentally needs a much more radical rewrite.

In addition to the performances, there are two other great successes of the night: the music and the designs. The ever-busy Vikki Stone contributes lyrics and music for songs that not only raise the spirits but move the production forward; and Oli Townsend’s designs are sublime and inventive; full of detail and invention. Even before the performance begins, children are spotting the hook-shaped door handle, the toy crocodile and the models of London landmarks. There might not have been any actual flying, but a few energetic leaps through the window more than serve the purpose when surrounded by some magical transformations of location and better use of the onstage balconies than we have seen for a long time.

Director Lucy Morrell and her team have created not just an entertaining and inventive take on a well-known story; through their work at the Rose, they are providing large numbers of young people with the chance to perform at a high standard. Their work is to be applauded, and the show is highly recommended to those wishing to see actors of the future working alongside talented performers of today.

**** Four stars

Reviewed by: Chris Abbott

Peter Pan plays at Rose Theatre Kingston until 7 January 2024, with further information here.