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Post by profquatermass on Nov 1, 2016 11:05:13 GMT
Is there an existing thread? First preview has been cancelled owing to the need for extra rehearsals after the last-minute cast change
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Post by rumbledoll on Nov 1, 2016 12:43:07 GMT
Bugger. Was aming to catch the first preview of this. Well, now I guess I have a free evening to fill it with something else  Thanks for the news though. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2016 19:31:01 GMT
Is there an existing thread? First preview has been cancelled owing to the need for extra rehearsals after the last-minute cast change Peter Pan Goes Wrong..? |
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Post by Marwood on Nov 8, 2016 20:44:31 GMT
Got myself a front row seat to see this two weeks before Christmas tonight, used an NT credit to pay for it (no interest in Amadeus and already got tickets for Red Barn, Hedda Gabler and Dublin Oldschool so not much else of interest to me coming up) Looking forward to it, probably the first remotely festive theatre production I'll have been to since I was at school.
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Post by profquatermass on Nov 8, 2016 20:51:30 GMT
THe last time they did Peter Pan it had Ian McKellen as Hook, Jenny Agutter as Mrs Darling, Claudie Blakley as Wendy and, I think Daniel Evans as Peter. It was ace.
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Post by bellboard27 on Nov 26, 2016 22:26:12 GMT
Cast work hard, but there is something missing. It needs some fairy dust.
Run time 2h 35 mins.
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Post by sondheimhats on Nov 26, 2016 22:53:57 GMT
Saw this one on Wednesday.
There were lots of things I liked, and lots of things I vehemently disliked. However, I'd say the overall effect of the evening was positive. I love all things Peter Pan, so it was a pleasure to see the story told in a such a unique way.
My 2 specific qualms were (1) the songs and (2) Tinkerbell. Regarding the songs, there were just too many of them for a show that isn't meant to be a full-on musical. They tended to stop the action and add very little of value to the show, and personally I just didn't find them to be very well-written at all. There were 2 notable exceptions, however - both in Act 2. I also found the portrayal of Tinkerbell to be thoroughly unfunny, so much so that I cringed every time (s)he was onstage. I've loved Peter Pan since I was a very small child, and I've seen many retellings of it. This was the first time I considered not clapping to bring Tinkerbell back to life (ultimately, I did clap anyway - I will ALWAYS clap for Tinkerbell - but man was I reluctant). Those were my two specific problems. More generally, there were also just some moments that fell flat and/or dragged a bit (understandable for early previews of a devised piece)
HOWEVER, there is a lot about this production that I really liked a lot. There are some gorgeous moments of staging, many laugh-out-loud sections, and a fun quirky energy throughout. The ending had me full-on crying (though Peter Pan tends to make me cry quite easily).
I enjoyed this quite a bit more than Jane Eyre, which I found to be extremely tedious and pretentious. I think Peter Pan inherently lends itself to devised theatre infinitely better than Jane Eyre.
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Post by bellboard27 on Nov 27, 2016 17:45:39 GMT
Agree about Tinkerbell being seriously awful. I was grateful (s)he was on for relatively few scenes.
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Post by tmesis on Nov 27, 2016 20:28:12 GMT
Anna Francolini was weak as Hook - maybe she will improve by press night and I realise she is replacing Sophie Thompson. The best performance was Madeleine Worrall as Wendy - touching and natural. Paul Hinton as Peter was way too old. Over all didn't enjoy it as much as I expected (I loved Jane Eyre.)
I know it's Cookson's style but with the National's resources I'm getting a bit fed up with The Olivier default production style of 'let's put the show on the road right here.'
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2016 23:15:44 GMT
I know it's Cookson's style but with the National's resources I'm getting a bit fed up with The Olivier default production style of 'let's put the show on the road right here.' Or, in the case of both Jane Eyre and Peter Pan at the NT, "Let's put Bristol Old Vic's show on the road right here." |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2016 9:09:08 GMT
Anna Francolini was weak as Hook - maybe she will improve by press night and I realise she is replacing Sophie Thompson. I believe that Sophie Thompson had been very involved in the characterisation of Hook in the lead up to the production before breaking her wrist so it's no surprise that (however admirably she's done it) Anna Francolini hasn't settled into the role yet. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2016 18:39:21 GMT
Just arrived at the NT and it's being billed as 2 hours 40 mins, which I hadn't clocked before - is it me, or is that very long for a kids show?? It's going to challenge my attention span! I was expecting a brisk two hour canter through...
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Post by jason71 on Dec 7, 2016 21:33:23 GMT
When the RSC did Wendy & Peter that was billed as a kids/family show. That clocked in at one hundred and fifty mins. This makes PP a short show
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2016 21:35:22 GMT
150 minutes = 2 hours 30 minutes. Yet you imply a 2 hour 40 minute show is comparatively short?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2016 21:47:45 GMT
Children's shows are usually short.
But family shows, such as Peter Pan, are often more narrative-based than most theatre, and hence quite long!
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Post by Jan on Dec 8, 2016 7:47:25 GMT
THe last time they did Peter Pan it had Ian McKellen as Hook, Jenny Agutter as Mrs Darling, Claudie Blakley as Wendy and, I think Daniel Evans as Peter. It was ace. That was an odd production, it was basically Nunn/Caird reviving their previous RSC production. |
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Post by crabtree on Dec 8, 2016 8:28:38 GMT
exactly, but I remember the NT equivalent being so dreary and lacking in pace, and being consumed by the technology. At the barbican it was glorious.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2016 9:39:43 GMT
I saw the Bonnie Langford touring version! She "flew" horizontally from one side of the stage to the other on a Tarzan rope while maintaining a fixed beaming grin. I remember nothing else about the show but I cannot get that dreadful image out of my head. Sometimes when I wake it is there.
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Post by QueerTheatre on Dec 8, 2016 9:46:14 GMT
Saw this last night & am still not sure what to make of it - i was front row to the side and a lot of it is directed to create a bigger image that just wasn't visible to us. I'm a huge Pan fan and helt this missed....something? Maybe the heart? I'm going again in January sitting at the back & am looking forward to seeing the flying sequence from there - tho worried i'll hear even less of Hook's lines then, unless her diction improves...
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Post by duncan on Dec 9, 2016 10:09:04 GMT
From the circle last night the diction of Hook was perfectly clear.
Cracking view of the revolve in action, I never knew it was so deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! In terms of the flying then I don't think you get much more from being further back, after a couple of goes it became much more interesting in watching the on stage professional counterweights.
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Post by duncan on Dec 9, 2016 10:13:41 GMT
Just arrived at the NT and it's being billed as 2 hours 40 mins, which I hadn't clocked before - is it me, or is that very long for a kids show?? It's going to challenge my attention span! I was expecting a brisk two hour canter through... The second act clocks in at a very entertaining 60 minutes or so but the opening act is an exceptionally dull 80 minutes - it needs something to give it a bit of zip as for the first hour or so, its just there and apparently doing nothing more than going through the motions to get to the interval. Some pruning here and there, less songs (the only decent one being a Carpenters tune) and totally revamp the concept behind Tinker Bell and it may just work that bit better. As it stands its just a bang average show. |
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Post by profquatermass on Dec 9, 2016 11:14:49 GMT
exactly, but I remember the NT equivalent being so dreary and lacking in pace, and being consumed by the technology. At the barbican it was glorious. I thought it was glorious at the NT but then I didn't see it at the Barbican. This production bored me rigid and I agree with whoever it was said they were tempted not to clap for Tinkerbell who was just awful |
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Post by Marwood on Dec 11, 2016 1:01:35 GMT
Saw this yesterday afternoon (well I say I saw it , I bailed at the interval due to the general ineptitude of the show and everyone involved, combined with the drunken retard sat next to me in the front row) and I have to say this was possibly the worst show I've ever seen on a West End stage. Every time I thought 'surely this can't get any worse' they managed to go that little bit further and prove that it could indeed be achieved. Good luck to anyone who has booked to see this, I hope you can pick some positive points from the wreckage.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2016 9:31:44 GMT
Could you perhaps give us just the slightest clue about which aspects were not to your personal taste?
And have you considered that this is a family show, and not intended for unaccompanied grumpy old men?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2016 9:54:50 GMT
Pros and cons for me:
Liked the rough and ready flying. Thought the way it picked up on Nana not thinking she's a dog was a lovely touch. And the portrayal of Peter as not necessarily a lost boy but the archetypal commitment phobic man who won't grow up worked very well. Liked Hook and her relationship with Peter - at one point I thought there was going to be a "Peter I am your mother" moment. But in the cheap seats in the front row half her lines were swallowed up - she seemed to be speaking too quickly and not really enunciating.
I feel like this is a minority view but Wendy was bloody irritating - but then she's irritating in the book as well, so perhaps not the fault of the actor.
Overall perfectly ok and better than a lot of the recent NT kids shows, but definitely not back to the glory days of Dark Materials/Coram Boy.
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