Girls aren’t allowed on the battlefield, says the sword-wielding John (George Naylor) to his sister Wendy (Isobel McArthur). Their role is relegated to that of a damsel in distress. Or mother or nurse or cleaner or cook.

But when her little brother Tom (Keiran Gallacher) dies from a chill – a sudden demise which she attributes to forgetting to sew a button on his pyjamas – Wendy swaps being a fixer for a seeker of fun when the shadow of a boy in Peter Pan (Ziggy Heath) and his streetwise sidekick Tink (Sally Reid) whisk her away to Never Land to play pirates rather than house.

I’ve had enough of being nice, she remonstrates with the lone ranger Tiger Lily (Bonnie Baddoo). Why is it that the boys are centre stage making friends and having fun, while the girls are reduced to quarrelling in the wings?

With a sprinkling of fairy dust and a click of Tink’s Doc Martin heels, they draw swords and embark on an awfully big adventure to “kick some pirate bum” and save Tom from the clutches of death – symbolised fleetingly by the snapping jaws of a circling croc.

In an interview before the play’s premiere at the RSC in 2015, writer Ella Hickson was asked why she called her adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s classic tale of the boy who wouldn’t grow up “Wendy and Peter Pan” to which she replied: “I was interested to see what the story looks like told from Wendy’s perspective – what does Wendy want and how is it her Never Land as much as it is for the boys.”

A modern take which successfully challenges gender stereotypes. As does Michael’s (Cristian Ortega’s) desire to be a mermaid and Smee’s (Dorian Simpson’s) offer to meet Captain Hook (Gyuri Sarossy) “in the cottage”. One of several double entendres which raise a laugh, not to mention an eyebrow, among those of a mature vintage.

Another central theme being that of grief and loss which comes to the fore in a moving scene towards the end of the play when Wendy and Peter share a moment of quiet reflection looking at the stars. How does one cope with the death of a loved one? How does one upturn a gurn to a grin?

Similarly, the transition from childhood to adulthood, freedom to responsibility, is touched upon through the unhappy relationship of Mr and Mrs Darling (Sarossy and Baddoo) and the stirrings of affection between Wendy and Peter, and John and Tiger Lily, whose heartstrings like that of the audience are plucked and broken.

But for the most part, the two hours’ traffic of our stage under the all hands on deck direction of Eleanor Rhode is a swashbuckling adventure laced with cute one-liners from an energetic ensemble who through a series of breathless chases and choreographed fights are made to work for their tot of rum. Cue Cyndi Lauper: Girls just want to have fun!

Peter Callaghan
Latest posts by Peter Callaghan (see all)