“It’s Peter Pan, but not as we know it.” – was the interval verdict of a pleasant bloke in my row; he went on to lament the fact that, apparently even in these recessionary times a studio flat in the Barbican Centre will set you back a quarter of a million quid. I am not sure that I agree with my erstwhile property hunting neighbour; I think it would be more accurate to say that David Greig’s new version is actually quite a lot closer to J.M. Barrie’s novel than the hazy, Disneyfied idea of Peter Pan that we carry around in our collective consciousness.
There is nothing remotely recessionary about director John Tiffany’s National Theatre of Scotland production: Peter flies, fights and crows on a Forth Bridge under construction, which revolves to become a barnacly Neverland shipwreck to the live beat of a Bodhran and Taiko drums. Tinkerbell is a mote of fire dancing over the stage and the action is punctuated by a mixture of rousing sea shanties and railroad songs you might expect to hear from a chain gang in Alabama.
The substitution of Edwardian London for Victorian Edinburgh does Peter Pan no harm at all and if, anything, enhances the story’s key elements by laying them bare: the Lost Boys are the ghosts of child workers on the Forth Bridge while a viscerally bald Hook – a muscular performance from Cal MacAninch doubling as Mr Darling – is a pirate captain rather than a restoration dandy. Kevin Guthrie’s horned Peter does more than nod to his wood God namesake and his rippling six-pack is a little too developed to belong to a boy who never grew up.
There is much to admire in this production: it pulls off the rare feat of being simultaneously suitable for audiences of all ages without compromising its appeal to any and it’s a fast 150 minutes so you’re out in plenty of time to get home – great news for anyone who hasn’t got a studio flat across from the theatre…
Peter Pan by JM Barrie
In a new version by David Greig
12 – 29 May 2010 / 19:15, 14:00, 15:00
Barbican Theatre
