Anyone who has been, or is involved in, amateur theatre will relate to this hilarious play.
Although the poster outside The Mayflower Theatre and the page of tour dates state that, ‘This Is Not A Pantomime,’ there are definitely elements of a pantomime particularly slapstick comedy throughout and a lot of audience participation.
The action centres around Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’s production of ‘Peter Pan’ and shines a spotlight on how cringeworthy some amateur shows can be. Writers Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields must have watched a fair number and are masters of observation.
The cast do a brilliant job at portraying bad acting and there are laugh out loud moments throughout. Furniture and fittings malfunction, actors are handed the wrong prop and use it regardless, there are horrible moments when actors don’t appear on stage when they should or remain on stage when they should have left. These Cornley amateur actors struggle through awkward and absurd situations which are as far from normal life as can be.
The three Darling children are played by adults. John Darling, brilliantly played by Clark Devlin, wears a permanent confused expression as he doesn’t know his lines and has to rely on them being fed through his headphones saying them with zero emotion and sometimes repeating things which he shouldn’t.
Theo Toksvig-Stewart is loveable as Michael in baby pink pyjamas and seeking approval from the audience. Ciara Morris gives a modern twist to Wendy, striding across the stage, or using robotic mannerisms when delivering her lines.
Many of the cast play several roles. Clark Devlin also doubles up as a mermaid and Smee and Theo Toskvig-Steward also plays a mermaid and the Crocodile. Jack Michael-Stacey is an elegant Mr Darling and Captain Hook and reminded me at times of the exasperated Basil Fawlty as everything descends into chaos around him. His ability at having to exit through a door which is obstructed by Nana the dog is priceless and shows his incredible agility as an actor.
Jamie Birkett has to flit between playing Mrs Darling and Lisa the maid with very little time between costume changes resulting in very comic results. Jamie also plays a very ungraceful Tinkerbell having to gyrate her hips in order to make her costume light up.
Whilst on the theme of being ungraceful, this leads me on to the entrance of Peter Pan, performed by Gareth Tempest, who descends into the stage area on wires but is flipped upside down, is left in mid air against the scenery flats or disappears into the curtains at the top of the proscenium arch. This is not the typical young boy who doesn’t want to grow up but a red blooded Peter Pan who clearly has a crush on Sandra from Cornley who plays Wendy.
Phil Yarrow was a hoot as Nana the dog and also Peter Pan’s shadow and his portrayal of Starkey was extremely funny. His dodgy pirate accent was so difficult to understand and the characters on stage didn’t hide this fact.
I instantly recognised the infectious smile of Jean-Luke Worrell who played the narrator and Cecco as he played the butler so brilliantly in ‘Cluedo’ at The Mayflower last year. As the narrator he had his own issues to deal with including remaining on stage in his chair or forgetting to come on. As Cecco the pirate his coat had numerous pockets which caused Captain Hook to get exasperated as he waited to be given a prop while Cecco tried every pocket to find the right one.
Rosemarie Akwafo who played Tootles portrayed her fear of being on stage brilliantly and Jake Burgum as Trevor, the Stage Manager had the audience in the palm of his hands from the beginning with his cheeky behaviour. The cast was supported by the Cornley stage crew, who had to rush on stage many times to sort out various mishaps.
Although everything goes wrong in this Cornley performance of ‘Peter Pan’, this professional production by Mischief Theatre is an absolute must see. The cast is incredible, the technical side of the show is brilliant - there are a quite a few jump in your seat moments due to problems with the set (all on purpose of course!) and the audience loved it. For a play that goes wrong it in fact is so right.
For more information on this stage adaption, visit here: https://www.mayflower.org.uk/whats-on/peter-pan-goes-wrong-2023/.
