Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
3rd December 2004 to 16th January 2005.
From the Newbury Weekly News.
Flying highPeter Pan, at The Oxford Playhouse, until Sunday,January 16 John Doyle and Sarah Travis theatrical revolution, creating brilliant smaller-scale musicals starring actor-musicians, has spread quite wondrously to the Oxford Playhouse from the Watermill. With excellent judgement, theatre director Tish Francis has brought in the duo to collaborate on a new musical version of JM Barries evergreen Peter Pan. Peter Pan puts the seal on a remarkable year at the Playhouse which featured their acclaimed Pinter plays, the revival of South African sensation Amajuba, and the innovative backstage hosting of Out of Joints groundbreaking Macbeth. Doyle has stunningly re-imagined the Playhouse stage opening it up with a wide wooden floor around which are many delightful props designed for a magical effect by Liz Cooke. Trees with branches hung with golden fairy lights hide the band. At one side is a huge fireplace glowing red above which is a flexible plexiglass mirror behind which Captain Hook will emerge; opposite, above a gigantic set of draws is the window where Peter Pan will fly off with Wendy and her brothers. The entire cast showcases its musical and acting talent. Justine Koos spiky-haired Peter leads the production personifying boyish fun. She is ably matched by Simon Walters truly evil Captain Hook. He is not joking when the Lost Boys have to walk the plank. The audience has a fine time booing this haughty pirate and enjoying a tit-for-tat repartee when Hook asks us for advice. As Wendy, Joanna Hickman enchants with her naïve smiles and sweet songs. Helen Anderson-Lee is physically beautiful as Wendys mother and musically engaging as a pianist-singer. When Wendys family, servant and dog merge dreamlike into their fantasy characters it is first-rate theatre, and also psychologically revealing. Doyle and Travis musical numbers will give Mary Poppins a run for its money in terms of catchiness. Alongside the professionals, the children (tonight the Red Team) play musical instruments well and act. We get to sing and clap our hands joyously. Dont regret missing this one. JON LEWIS |
From www.dailyinfo.co.uk.
Walking into the theatre, the magic was already alive in a dreamy
eeriness as characters sat totally involved in their own tasks or looking
out spookily into the audience. |
From the Daily Telegraph.
This magical show refuses to grow oldThey breed their children tough in Oxford. The matinee performance of Peter Pan was packed with apparently sweet and well-mannered primary schoolchildren, but when the going got rough they revealed the morals of the Marquis de Sade. "Shall I shoot the boy?" Captain Hook leeringly asked the juvenile
audience. "Yeah, shoot him!" screamed back my neighbours. And when
Tinkerbell was in mortal peril, and we were asked to clap our hands if we
believed in fairies, they screamed back that actually, no, all things
considered, they didn't believe in fairies AT ALL. This of course was the
response from the boys. CHARLES SPENCER |
From www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk.
It falls to few writers to create names for their imaginary people which
take on permanent life. Salute, then, to J. M. Barrie who managed it one and
a half times in his most famous work: half marks for adding 'Pan' to Peter,
still the standard term for a free spirit/perpetual adolescent, and full
marks for inventing 'Wendy' his companion/surrogate mother/sensible girl.
JEANNINE ALTON |