review
http://www.peterpantheshow.com/
To much fun. The crocodile was made out of coat hangers! As is usually the case, a hero is only as interesting as his villain, and last night's Captain Hook was pretty good. Tinkerbell was a nice change, she was not pretty, but kind of grungy with her matted tutu and bushy hair. There is even more wire work in this version than is typical, meaning the actors playing Tink and Peter are having too much fun. At times tough fun, at one point the two of them were suspended upside down for a good, solid ten minutes. I think I could do that, but I don't think I would enjoy hanging around like a bat for that long.
The production was aimed at children. Since all the actors were adults (barely), I was hopeful this Peter Pan would be more serious, that Never Land would be a dangerous place, and Captain Hook could be less comical and more sophisticated, but he is limited by his Peter Pan. They did include the scene with Peter on the rock, where he proclaims that dying would be a great adventure, and taking Jane to Never Land ended the play, but both of those were rushed, as if asking the audience not to think about them for more than a moment. This production, like most productions, never quite let the nursery lights go out so we could see the dark areas of the map. The production was also depending on the audience having seen the Disney version. Understanding Peter Pan really isn't for children. It's a gateway drug to be puzzled out latter so I don't mind if fairy dust is used to obscure some of the deeper, darker themes. It's a good fairy tale in it's Grimm way.