Review: THE PANTOMIME ADVENTURES OF PETER PAN, Festival Theatre Edinburgh

Photo credit: Douglas Robertson

Edinburgh’s pantomime is back at the Festival Theatre for 2023, reuniting the much-loved trio of Allan Stewart, Grant Stott and Jordan Young in The Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan. Once again, it’s a colourful, vibrant affair with much to enjoy, even if the plot is somewhat dubious.

Going into this expecting the traditional story of Peter Pan would be a mistake. This is set after the original tale, with Wendy being called back to Neverland by Tink to help restore the magic of the pixie dust waterfall so that Peter can fly again. Smee and his mother, May McSmee, are goodies who never liked doing Captain Hook’s bidding, so they’re friends with Peter and the Lost Boys now, and Captain Hook has been eaten by the crocodile, so he’s not going to be a problem… is he?

As is often the case in panto, the plot does tend to play second fiddle to the expected skits and sketches led by the stars, and these are certainly entertaining, if somewhat formulaic and often a bit too similar to sketches from last year’s panto. It would be nice to see a little bit of variety in amongst the predictable, no matter how funny it is.

Despite this, the leads are on fine form. Jordan Young’s Smee is gloriously silly, with some excellent physical comedy on display, particularly in the scene when he attempts to audition to join Hook’s Pirate Crew. Grant Stott relishes the many boos he receives as Captain Hook, playing the baddie with great aplomb. Leading the trio is Allan Stewart, in his 25th year playing Edinburgh’s dame, playing his much-loved Aunty May character. Stewart is a consummate professional and commands the stage with great success – whenever Aunty May is on, we’re in safe hands and we know there’s some nonsense coming our way. There’s a particularly charming scene near the end when some children from the audience are invited onstage, with Stewart managing to walk the fine line between laughing with the children and at them, keeping the audience on side and making the children feel at ease – it’s a masterclass in working with children.

This year, dance group Flawless also join the team as Hook’s Pirate Crew. Their showcased routines are incredibly impressive, although they rarely interact with the rest of the cast, meaning the story tends to come to a halt when they enter to perform a routine. The rest of the principals all give strong performances, but are given relatively little to work with in terms of material compared to the central trio.

It is a little disappointing that the decision has been taken to augment the ensemble singing with pre-recorded vocals. For us, this is very noticeable and detracts from the magic of live theatre. The ensemble are excellent dancers and are all very experienced performers – they should have been allowed to sing for themselves without any additional enhancement.

All in all, this is a highly entertaining night with lots of laughs, lots of sparkle and lots of fun. When you attend an Edinburgh panto, you know what you’re signing up for, and this is absolutely no exception. Despite the few flaws, the cast give their all throughout and the audience certainly seemed to enjoy this classic traditional pantomime.

*** Three stars

Reviewed by: Lorna Murray

The Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan plays at Festival Theatre, Edinburgh until 31 December, with further information here.