Review: Christmas pantomime Peter Pan at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal, running until January 12

A marvellous magical adventure filled with festive family fun and is sure to get audience into the Christmas spirit.

This Christmas Peter Pan is flying in and whisking audiences away to Neverland in the Nottingham Theatre Royal’s annual pantomime, running until January 12.

The adventures of the titular character are well known and much loved by people the world over, and the fantastical tale lends itself well to the magic of panto.

With a sprinkling of pixie dust the time flew by as the jokes came thick and fast, keeping the audience laughing from beginning to end.

There was, however, a little bit of last minute drama as only an hour before curtain up, Gok Wan, slated to play the Magical Merman, had to pull out of the evening’s performance after taking ill.

Despite having no time to rehearse his lines the show’s director Alan Burkitt bravely stepped into the role and did a fabulous job at playing the flamboyant fashionista.

Although he required a clipboard to hold the script and on a few occasions lost his lines, the pure absurdity and chaotic nature of it all felt right at home in the world of panto.

The rest of the cast were equally as brilliant and made sure that there was never a dull moment, whether it was a sword fight or a custard pie to the face.

Richard Winsor, best known for his time on the BBC’s Casualty, was delightfully devilish as Peter Pan’s arch nemesis Captain Hook, and looked as if he was having the best time terrorising the inhabitants of Neverland.

Then, for people like me who grew up watching the Chuckle Brothers, it was a brilliant to witness Paul Chuckle in the spotlight doing his thing as lovable pirate Starkey.

His classic gentle humour, wordplay, and slapstick stage presence was a big hit with the young people in the audience and had the adult chuckling along too.

Celebrity ventriloquist Steve Hewlett also brought a lot of laughs and put his talents to good use as Smee — puppets providing a little bit of a break from the big, all singing, all dancing set pieces.

Panto also would not be complete without a little bit of audience interaction and everyone that was brave enough to step onto that stage played their part wonderfully, recognising the how silly it all was and accepted it.

At times, the story did feel more like a vehicle for the jokes than a coherent narrative, as a self-aware remark midway through the show pointed out “have you not been paying attention to the plot? If you look hard enough you’ll find one.”

But honestly, this isn’t a bad thing. The role of panto is to entertain, and entertain it did.

A special mention must also go to the brilliant choreography, set design, and costumes, which were a feast for the eyes.

This show struck the right balance between childish silliness and adult innuendo — although it was ruder than any panto I’d ever attended.

There really was something for everyone, with slapstick humour and fart jokes galore to keep the kids entertained, and a smattering of references and jokes that only the grown ups would understand.

If you want to laugh, and I mean really laugh, get the family together and head down to watch Peter Pan, because you won’t regret it. — FB