When I think of Peter Pan and Neverland, immediately I think of faeries, flying, pirates, a hungry crocodile, children playing make believe, and a boy that never wanted to grow up. Kaleidoscope Theatre embraced these classic elements yet told the story with a few new twists with Pan, their take on the classic tale.
There were some great musical elements to the story, with a chorus of supporters continuously chiming in. The show was quite impressive visually, especially considering the elements they used to represent the London backdrop, the characters flying, Neverland’s urban twists, and the sea full of mermaids.
This was the first time I’ve ever seen a Peter Pan story with Tinker Bell speaking. I always knew she had jealousy issues, but now having her verbalize her feelings made it clearly evident that she wanted Peter as hers. She was quite funny and entertaining to watch and listen to, and even pulled out a “Gangnam”-style dance move when celebrating one of her victories.
Tiger Lily had an East Indian demeanour, quite a contrast to the original the original American Indian portrayal of her character. She embraced classical Bollywood-style dancing with an impressive group of Bollywood-clad dancers incorporated in her routines. Like in the original, she was captured by the pirates then released by Peter Pan, who she seemed to have a very soft spot for.
Captain Hook and the Pirates were scallywags indeed, and by that I mean they had wagging tails: they were a pack of hip-hop rapping and dancing dogs. Hook himself didn’t have a mere hook for a hand, but had more of a scythe which hung low and he used as a cane as well as hand/weapon. The pirates were spectacular; they kept the story super entertaining.
There wasn’t as much interaction between Hook and characters like Peter Pan, Tiger Lily, or Tinker Bell as in the original Disney classic, but Hook’s presence was entertaining, hilarious, and had a funny, dramatic end to boot.
Peter Pan himself was amazing. This was the same legendary story of an adventurous young boy who never wanted to grow up, and he was charming, courageous, and stubborn. In this version of the tale, Peter goes into the story of how his mother forgot about him and closed her window on him; it really made me feel sympathetic and understanding for why his character is the way he is. It was amazing to see such a great portrayal of a character that I have marvelled over since childhood.