WITH memories of the festive season fading and the most depressing month of the year upon us, we all need cheering up and Peter Pan at the Norbury Theatre does just that.
This year’s offering from the Norbury Players has everything you want in a panto – plenty of comedy, jokes for all ages, great songs, choreography and dance routines, audience participation and, of course, a happy ending.
The show, which has already been playing to sell-out crowds in its first week, runs until January 25 so there is still plenty of time to catch the tale of the boy who never grew up.
The story is delivered by a talented cast from the ensemble, senior dancers and junior dancers, right through to the main roles.
Josh Cawston as Peter Pan’s Shadow and Olivia Hinton as Nana the dog played their parts well in the opening scenes.
Fiona Andrews as Mother Goose, Chris Newbould as Mr Darling and Janet Sinclair as Mrs Darling were all solid performers. Newbould also doubles up as the croc in the ‘he’s behind you’ scenes which led to plenty of audience participation and Sinclair delivered an impressive ‘Hand to Hold’ solo in the first act.
Elliot Fitzhugh as John and Abigail Kucera as Michael worked well together in all their scenes, from the sword fighting to having their say at Peter Pan’s hideout.
Likewise, the Lost Kids, led by Rolo (Matilda Stead), were also wonderful, especially during ‘Don’t Be Anything Less than Anything You Can Be’ and ‘We Got The Beat’ (with the camp mates) – these were both among the musical highlights. The choreography and song delivery were first class.
Grace Duggan made for a brilliant Red, portraying perfectly the character being in awe of Peter Pan and her solo in ‘Right Hand Man’ was faultless.
Steve Peace was all you wanted in a narrator – as well as telling the story and keeping the production ticking over, he made plenty of humorous observations and deservedly earned himself a lot of chuckles when his voice was called into action.
The pirates – Smee (Hayley Marshall), Mini Smee (Olivia Hinton), One Eye (Emmie Collins) and Toothless (Abii Ward) – have a fantastic rapport between them which makes for a multitude of comedic moments. The hapless bunch were a delight to watch.
Paul Steele was suitably naughty as Florrie – the panto dame – undertaking plenty of banter with the audience and delivering those all-important one-liners. And, at the other end of the scale, Mary Jane Peace, ensured the audience took Tinker Bell to their hearts.
Emily Dutton was a wonderful Wendy and excelled in the second act where she stepped more into the spotlight for the latter musical numbers.
And Ellie Davison made for the perfect, confident Peter Pan, leading the way in a lot of the scenes with all the self-assurance that the character has.
But the performance of the night went to Jimmy Hill as the evil Captain Hook. He epitomised what panto is all about with his portrayal of the fearsome but cultured pirate who loved to quote Shakespeare and demonstrate the finer world of theatre. He had plenty of memorable exchanges with the audience, earned every boo and hiss directed at him and you could see he was loving every minute he was on stage.
There is often not much to look forward to in January as we try and get back into the old routine after Christmas and new year. Peter Pan at the Norbury is feelgood theatre that will fly you off to another world for a couple of hours to forget about your troubles and have a good old fashioned traditionally British laugh.
The show runs until January 25.
Tickets are limited for the shows next Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
There are more places available for the following Friday and Saturday 7.30pm shows (January 24 and 25).
Visit: norburytheatre.co.uk for more information and to book.
