Peter Pan
Gaiety Theatre, Dublin
★★★★☆
There’s no messing about at this year’s Gaiety pantomime. As the curtain rises we are landed straight in Neverland, where Tinker Bell (Ciara Lyons) has taken charge as storyteller for the evening. After a quick summary of the toxic history between the eponymous hero and his seafaring nemeses, and the first of what will be more than 20 musical numbers, we are transported to the house of the Darling children, where Wendy (Clodagh Kane) has been rudely interrupted in her reading by the mischievous Peter (Colm Quinn) and his pesky shadow.
Song has become an increasingly key part of the storytelling at the Gaiety panto over the past decade, under the direction of the multitalented Daryn Crosbie, who directs, choreographs and writes the annual extravaganza. The dizzying ensemble numbers are one of its greatest strengths, and musical director Peter Beckett manages to move seamlessly between musical-theatre standards, 1990s pop and rock classics, and contemporary tunes without an audible slip.
Crosbie’s adaptation of lyrics to suit the well-known tale is less successful, however. With so much of the storytelling subsumed in song, clarity of vocal delivery is key, and although some of the leads (Quinn and Kane in particular) rise to the challenge, the voices of some of show’s long-standing stalwarts cannot match them, and a good bit of the script’s detail is lost.
Regular panto patrons, however, will know exactly what function Nana (the breathlessly effervescent Joe Conlan) and arch-villain Captain Hook (Nicholas Grennell) are supposed to play, as the danger intensifies and the happy ever after is reversed and then restored.
The design elements of the production are nothing short of spectacular, with a refreshing blend of traditional stagecraft – painted sets and billowing waves of satin for the sea from Ciara Cramer; an elaborate fly system, brilliantly exploited in a variety of contexts – and digital wizardry, from Luis Poveda. When Peter and Wendy take off from the Darling bedroom and travel through the Dublin Portal to Neverland, to their own soundtrack of Rule the World by Take That, the result is breathtaking.
With terrific ensemble efforts from the Billie Barry corps as the Lost Boys (and Girls!) and Hook’s imaginatively distinctive sea-dogs, who include Donncha O’Dea’s endearing Smee, the visual wizardry is nicely balanced by fun. The biggest cheer at the grand finale is reserved for the final saxophone solo of the TikTok Croc, a highly unlikely anonymous star, who reminds us that the panto’s most important audience is the kids.
Peter Pan is at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, until Sunday, January 19th
