Review: Peter Pan at Curve

Peter Pan is Curve’s second attempt at a fun for all the family Christmas romp. And I am happy to report it achieves what it has set out to do. A faithful(ish) telling of the classic children’s story of the boy who never grows up and, let’s face it, kidnaps the Darling children and takes them to a far away land. There he forces Wendy to look after his band of ‘Lost Boys’ whilst placing everyone in mortal danger by kicking up a fuss with the Pirates next door. At the same time leaving the Darling parents fretting at home next to an open window which they will more than likely catch a cold from.

All the elements you would expect from a production of Peter Pan are present and correct, the cast fly, Hook and Smee spend alot of time verbally sparring and small children fight with grown up pirates. As well as  some things you may not expect, a disabled mermaid being the first thing to come to mind and Nana being portrayed by a person in a huge (when I say huge I mean she looked like a monster) dog costume.

There is no denying the amount of energy and enthusiasm from the cast, Peter, Wendy, Hook, Tiger Lilly and Smee are all played to perfection and backed up by a fantastic supporting cast. However the mermaid completely steals the show with her song about wanting a merman whilst whizzing about the stage on her motorised clam shell, more of her would have been lovely.

Sadly all is not perfect in Neverland, echos of Phantom of the Opera and Beauty and the Beast come through on a number of songs and I ended up leaving thinking of Mrs. Potts rather than poor Wendy. There is also a lack of on stage time for Peter and the Lost Boys, after a magical opening of Peter flying around the Darling’s bedroom he is left in favour for the extremely camp band of Pirates. I also couldn’t help but feel that the kiddlywinks might get a bit bored during the second half as the majority of songs are of the slow woe is me kind as Wendy becomes home sick, the Darling parents moan about their children being missing and poor little Tinkerbell pops her clogs but it all picks up again for the final fight. Also children who are expecting to boo, hiss and yell ‘it’s behind you’ will be disappointed as this is very much a family musical and not a pantomime.

In all I think there is enough here to keep parents and kids entertained, innuendos flow over children’s heads with ease, one joke in particular involving the Jolly Roger kept a fellow behind me amused for quite some time. The dancing is polished and the singing lovely making for a marvelous family night’s entertainment.

To book tickets visit curveonline.com and you will find Curve at 60 Rutland Street, Leicester, LE1 1SB‎.

If you want to learn more about Peter Pan we have an interview with James Gaddas who played Captain Hook, which you can read by clicking here.

We also have tickets for Peter Pan up for grabs just click on this lil link.