The Citizen, 2003-11-26, Page 31THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2003. PAGE 31.
Entertainment Leisure
Theatre review
Grand’s ‘Peter Pan’ fails to fly
Reviewed by Keith Roulston
For its Christmas-time, family
production, London’s Grand Theatre
has chosen J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan.
With lots of flying and colourful sets
it should be a sure thing.
Unfortunately it isn’t.
Barrie’s play must have had
something going for it — the story
has been around since 1904. It has
been successful from Broadway to
The Shaw Festival. Gail Bowen’s
adaptation makes one wonder how.
If you are taking your children or
grandchildren to see Peter Pan,
expect great spectacular scenery
particularly when Peter takes the
Darling children, Wendy (Clair
Frances Muir) and her brother John
(Rowan Vickers) to Never Never
Nunscenee
Students from F.E. Madill Secondary School presented their newest play, Nunscenee, at the
Wingham Town Hall Heritage Theatre on Nov. 21 to family and fellow classmates. (Elyse DeBruyn
photo)
Land where magical colours turn the
stage into a storybook setting.
There’s also spectacular props like a
huge, moving, lifelike version of
Captain Hook’s ship.
Children will also be impressed
with Peter. Wendy and John
magically flying through the air,
though there was less magic than
there should have been as the crew
had problems bringing off the flying
scenes cleanly.
The problem is there’s no conflict
in Bowen’s adaptation. Oh there are
sword fights and threats, but there is
none of the dramatic tension in the
dialogue that makes theatre come
alive. A needless added subplot with
a rebellious member of Captain
Hook’s crew even lessens the
confrontations between Hook and
Peter. Instead of seeing the action on
stage, too much of the story is told to
us by the Traveler, played by veteran
actor Keith Dinicol.
Bowen has confused storytelling
with writing drama. The facts of
Peter Pan’s story are on stage but
this production shows that it’s the
way you tell the tale that matters in
theatre, not the flat facts of the story.
The lines give the actors little
opportunity to interact with each
other as they basically deliver an
series of monologues. As a result
great actors like Oliver Dennis, who
plays both Mr. Darling, the
children's father, and the dastardly
Hook, look lost.
While the professional actors
have too little to do, Bowen gives
too much for Peter’s pals, the Lost
Boys. Recruited from local schools,
they have too many lines to deliver
and with a wide range in acting
ability, these children really would
be better off seen and not heard.
Sadly, this production of Peter
Pan is a wasted opportunity. It looks
like a professional production but
with all the resources of good actors
and spectacular scenery, the play
ends up being an over-dressed
amateur effort.
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