Peter Pan At Victoria Theatre Halifax Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Jenny Bray
Peter Pan isn’t as common a pantomime as many others and this one had its own twist on the storyline of Peter Pan and Tinkerbell taking the Darling children to Neverland for an adventure. We have been to see several pantomimes over the years but it was refreshing to see this one.
Some of the characters have catchphrases they want you to repeat when they appear. The Dame this year, Mrs Smee (Andrew Pollard), is one. She also has the prerequisite outrageous outfits for a pantomime dame. My favourites were the nautical themed ones.
Starky (Nathan Morris) is, alongside Mrs Smee, one of the key people seeking audience participation and has several jokes and gags throughout, some linked specifically to local areas.
Peter Pan (Kieran Morris) is full of charisma and energy, bouncing around the stage… when not flying and doing turns in the air! His sidekick, although less so in this production, is Tink (Lucy Hamilton-Dewhurst) who is very cheeky in this show, which I liked.
With it being a family friendly pantomime the start time for tonight’s show was 6.30, which is a great time to still be able to engage the younger members of the audience before they get too tired and jaded. It was done by 9 so we were able to get on the road to head home to bed at a sensible time (especially for a school night, although at least tomorrow is the last day before the schools break up anyway). The show is on at a variety of family friendly times over the festive period. The ‘baddie’ of the show; Captain Hook (Aled Thomas Davies), isn’t actually scary so this is a great option for younger children to see.
My children (as did others in the audience) loved the addition of the Darling’s family dog in the initial scenes. They also loved it when people were flying around on stage and when the croc appeared.
The stage setting is bright and the backdrops to change scenes are plentiful, meaning the whole stage easily changes from being the Darling’s bedroom to Neverland, to Hook’s ship and more. The outfits are equally bright and fun, as you’d expect in a pantomime.
The choreography was well coordinated, lively and enhanced the show perfectly, incorporating the younger members of the cast who were playing lost boys and rainbow warriors. I enjoyed seeing the younger cast members really getting into dancing and performing on stage.
The show was put on by Imagine Theatres, who have been producing the Victoria Theatre pantomime for over 10 years. We have been to a few over the years and I love how they weave something different in and make them stand out. Some producers of other pantomimes we’ve been to elsewhere seem to think that you need to have exactly the same gags in from year to year, which can get a little wearing, but the ones here are always different. This one had a great mix of laugh out loud moments for the children to more subtle comments that only the adults would get!
I love that pantomimes don’t take themselves too seriously, especially when people ad lib or laugh on stage when they possibly shouldn’t be, as it’s infectious. Starky and Smee also came out before the finale to do the role call of shout outs, birthdays, audience participation and a competitive sing along – surely a pantomime isn’t complete without these aspects any more?!
The Victoria Theatre is in the centre of Halifax so you’d think it would be hard to get to, but it’s actually easy to find and there is street parking all round the theatre. There are some roadworks going on near to the theatre at the moment so allow a little more time to get there comfortably than you would ordinarily. The theatre itself is fairly modern and is smaller than older, traditional ones, meaning every seat has a decent view of the stage.
It wouldn’t be Christmas without taking the children to see a pantomime and it sets us up for being festive each year. We all loved this particular pantomime and laughed along lots. I’d recommend that you get yourself to see it before it is too late; Christmas jumpers optional, festive spirit and readiness to participate mandatory!
Rating: 4/5
Tickets cost a very reasonable £24.25 to £33.25
Peter Pan is on at the Victoria Theatre Halifax between 19th December 2024 and 5th January 2025.
For more information or to book tickets visit https://www.victoriatheatre.co.uk/whats-on/peter-pan#performances or call the Box Office on 01422 351158