Ad disclosure: We were provided with press tickets free of charge for the purpose of this post.
On Friday evening we headed into the city centre to go and watch Peter Pan at the REP Birmingham, or rather-Peter Pan ‘reimagined’. This isn’t your average Nanny-the-dog adaptation, but a modernised take on the classic tale.
The beginning and the end of the story are set in current day Birmingham, rather than Victorian era London. Instead of an affluent family unit, you are introduced to three foster kids who have been moved from home to home, ending up in a flat with single working foster mum Jess. The play opens with a gang of kids messing about on the estate, scarpering at the sight of a community support officer and grouchy caretaker.
Wendy is the mother-figure to her siblings, with a troublesome past and the weight of her responsibilities heavy on her shoulders. Instead of telling a story of a girl who is reluctant to grow up, this ‘reimagined’ version shows a girl who has had to grow up too soon… Something which is all too common.
With a modern setting comes updated costumes, language, and sets… and what amazing sets they are. We’ve been to a few productions at the REP and this is by far the most elaborate set we have seen. It is three storeys high, with balconies looking down over the stage, and two large set pieces that rise up from the floor. The Lost Ones (not just Lost Boys in this version!) have an underground base, which they access through drain covers. and the whole thing raises up from below the stage in a jaw-dropping moment.
The sets are ingeniously created from what looks like the entire contents of a junkyard, with a sail made from old t-shirts, fish with milk bottle bodies, and slightly creepy mermaids with gas mask faces. The ticking crocodile appears as a tail constructed from tyres of different sizes, and the front half of a car, complete with a rather familiar symbol on his nose.
Of course, although this is a totally radical take on J M Barrie’s classic, the bones of the familiar story are still there. You still see Peter Pan fly (brilliantly), Tink needs a little help from the audience to survive (we do believe in fairies!), and of course the Lost Ones narrowly escape walking the plank just before Pan and Hook battle it out.
Wendy has never been any good at sewing, so she resorts to stapling Peter’s shadows back on – and yes, that is shadows with two S’s. As he explains, Pan needs a shadow for dawn, a short one for midday, another for dusk, and one for every hour in between – as well as one for shadow boxing! This concept allows multiple black clad figures to move around the stage when and wherever they are needed, giving the stage hands freedom to shift sets and clip ropes on and off the flying characters.
The cast shines all the way through this fresh adaptation, with high energy throughout and genuine moments of emotion, too. Tough but fair foster mum Jess becomes the fearsome Captain Hook, and Nia Gwynne plays both characters brilliantly-giving Hook just the perfect amount of over the top drama that suits the character so well. Smee, Hook’s most loyal pirate, is also female in this adaptation, and is wonderfully ridiculous and gullible. The kids loved this comical character, especially the odd fart joke she provided!
All three Darling children, and Pan himself, were all portrayed fantastically too. I was amazed to see that this was Cora Tsang’s professional stage debut, as her performance of Wendy was totally captivating. Lawrence Walker flew around the stage as Peter Pan, and conveyed his eternal youthfulness and vulnerability so well. Mollie Lambert gave us an enthusiastic Michael, while Kascion Franklin became the serious (but still capable of letting himself be silly) John.
Instead of pirate shanties and lullabies, this adaptation is full of modern music styles, with rapping pirates (who look like they’ve escaped a video game rather than the high seas), and a dance number in the Lost Ones’ den that wouldn’t look out of place in the next Step Up movie.
The costumes are just as inventive as the sets, with deconstructed soft toys and dolls featuring in both the loveable Lost Ones colourful mish-mash outfits and the Pirates more menacing clothing. Hook strides around in kick-ass boots with a model pirate ship for a hat, while Pan kicks back and relaxes in a green hoodie and ripped jeans. Tink flies about the stage in a bright silver punk style outfit, nattering away in fairy language – which is gibberish at times and perfectly understandable when needed.
Older generations watching this production might need the odd bit of slang translated, but we all absolutely loved it. Lydia spent the interval singing the Wendy House rap, much to the amusement of our fellow theatre goes in the queue to the ladies! Both the girls gave it a big thumbs up, and we all recommend it – definitely one worth going to see while it is on. It is a fun and fresh take on an old favourite.
Peter Pan is on at Birmingham REP until 19th January 2020, and is recommended for ages 7+.
