BADDIES and goodies, gravity-defying acrobatics, daredevil sword fights and flying children stacking like jets over Heathrow… what a crash, bang, wallop of a show.
And if this wasn’t enough, there are the rapier sharp dance routines, terrible jokes, slapstick and so much madcap knockabout that you’re literally left reeling.
Yes, shiver me timbers me old hearties… who could possibly want more from a Christmas show? It’s absolutely Pan-tastic!
Now, it’s customary for the character of Smee, played by Andrew Agnew, to act as a kind of narrator for the story. And our man most certainly doesn’t let us down for one single moment.
He becomes the buffer zone between Captain Hook’s plank – as in ‘walking the’ – and the derring-do of Peter Pan, the perpetual thorn in the scurrilous skipper’s side.
Mind you, Mark Moraghan’s Hook is not all that horrendous, more a Terry-Thomas character rather than scourge of the Spanish Main. His is a more gentlemanly menace, which nevertheless gleans the right amount of boos from this capacity audience.
Peter Pan (Jessica Punch) meanwhile is firmly in the mould of the classic principle boy… dashing, gallant and utterly fearless, everything to be expected of the traditional panto hero.
Strong performances indeed and these are backed up by a tenacious Tinker Bell (Rosie Needham), Wendy (Anna Lawrence) and Tiger Lily (Laura Harrison) all of whom help to keep the children flying high while knocking the wind out of Hook’s sails at the same time.
J M Barrie’s timeless tale of eternal youth doesn’t necessarily lend itself to the full-blown panto treatment but Andrew Ryan’s script and Dean McDermott’s musical direction ensures there’s never a dull moment.
And it is all this, combined with Alastair Bull’s inspired choreography, that makes for a must-see chunk of glorious festive fun.
Peter Pan runs at Malvern Theatres until Sunday, January 3. It’s not to be missed.