Peter Pan The Pantomime

You know it’s the festive season when every screen starts showing family shows and Santa keeps making a cameo every now and then whether it is in adverts or theatre productions. Recently I watched as Santa made a very extravagant, though slightly baffling, entrance as he came onto the stage of Janice Honey’s Peter Pan’s The Pantomime in a helicopter. Though his entrance was full of pomp and dance, it didn’t really make much sense, but considering the shows general extravagance and crazy wild confusion I suppose it was never meant to make sense and I guess it worked.

The musical production was a definite treat to enjoy, crazy confusion and all, as it took the festive theme and threw it into the story of Peter Pan along with a smacking of local South African flavour that made for more than enough entertainment for the whole family. That flavour was brilliantly brought out by the amazing actors whose lively dancing and constant excited movements dragged you into their world and kept you following along their crazy antics as they worked to keep their colourful world alive.

But the most entertaining of all must have been the brilliant dialogue that was so deliciously filled with the latest news. It was truly great to see that while the visuals were meant to keep the little people entertained and distracted, the seemingly endless monologues or chatter of the characters comically touched on issues from Nkandla to the Oscar trial. But it didn’t stop there as could be seen by the little nuggets of pop culture that were included every now and then throughout the play, such as Wendy referencing Katniss Everdeen, the main protagonist from the Hunger games trilogy, just as Captain Hook forces her to walk the plank.

It was truly a smart theatre production, though it wasn’t without its mishaps. One such mishap could be seen when Peter Pan tried flying in to save the day and fight Captain Hook, only to have his equipment fail him. But the cast was quick to recover from the delay, so much so that much of the audience wasn’t even aware of the delay while Peter Pan came running on stage through a side door.

Still as smart as the production was, the ending felt a bit like the chaos slipped a bit into the senseless for a moment before the cast tried to reign it back in again.

Another questionable aspect of the play was the vain objectification and beauty as shown with the Amazons and the princess, Tiger Lily’s body as well as her saviour who gets chosen by Captain Hook simply because of his looks. All this in a children’s play is a bit much, even if it’s meant to be directed as entertainment, satire or otherwise, for the adults bringing the children. 

But despite that, the play, as a whole is still worth watching as the actors work to bring about the festive spirit along with igniting the fires of our inner child as we watch the crazy fantasy play out. Everything works to excite the mind and will make you smile, even the blatant advertising that even the actors make no secret of hiding as they integrate it into their scenes without batting an eyelid.

It’s certainly a musical festival filled with recent chart toppers that’ll have you sinning along and even dancing along with the cast and leave you grinning as you exit the theatre.