Every Christmas Granny and Granddad

Buy us a family theatre visit

As part of our Christmas presents

This year we chose to see

Peter Pan at The National Theatre

Esther and William at six years old

Are a little younger than the recommended lower age limit of 7

But they are regular theatre goers

They are actually very good theatre critics

And they enjoy seeing and discussing a show

We have seen a wide range of traditional and modern theatre

So I was confident that whatever the interpretation of Peter Pan

A story that as a family we adore

They would be able to handle it

And enjoy it

And I was not wrong

The play has a running time of 2 hours and 35 minutes

And my theatre loving twosome were engrossed

Entranced throughout

Only speaking to make comments about the staging

And to ask valid questions about the plot and the characters

I was super proud of them

And very sad that a man in the row in front of us

A fair number of seats away

Felt the need to sshhh my children

And give them dirty looks throughout the performance

I feel sorry for the man

As he missed some magical moments of the production

Looking back at us and watching us as a family

Totally lost in the amazing performances of the ensemble on stage

The National Theatre production of Peter Pan

Is wonderful

The perfect mix of magic and menace

We laughed until we cried

And at times sobbed uncontrollably

Such was the power of the piece

I cried so much when Tinkerbell drank Peter’s poisoned medicines

And the entire audience

Especially my twins

Clapped so hard

Saying over and over and over again

I believe in fairies

I believe in fairies!

I cried again when Wendy and Jane were talking about Peter Pan

And when Peter said his goodbyes

Dan Wheeler played Peter Pan today

And he was awesome

It took me a while to warm to him

But at the inspirational end of Act 1

He stole my heart

And kept a tight hold of it for the whole of Act 2

The play begins with a strength in individual performances

Combined with effortless team work

That continues throughout the show

Mrs Darling is fabulous

Mr Darling hilarious

Both are so lovable

The children are wonderful

With Wendy played perfectly

And her relationship with John was very funny

Nana the Dog was brilliant

A fine comic performance

And I loved the actor who then went on

To play Tootles with as much comic affection

I loved the way the ensemble worked together

Acting as stage support when not in role

Mr Darling who also played Smee and one of the Lost Boy twins

Is such a talent

Totally captivating to watch

Mrs Darling is also Captain Hook

And she is marvellous in both roles

A real rocky pirate mistress

A true cruel but slightly broken Captain

I could not take my eyes off her

Esther and William were not at all sure about

Captain Hook being a girl

But Anna Francolini definitely won them over

Won us all over

We all loved how the musicians were integrated with the actors

The music was a strength of this interpretation of such a well loved tale

The flying was awe inspiring

Especially for little people

Who aspire to be actors and acrobats and dancers

My children ooohed and aaahed in all the right places

And they were not alone

If you have chance to go and see Peter Pan at The National Theatre

Please do

It is a magical modern interpretation

That loses none of the original charm in this wonderful adaptation

This is a story of adventure

A story of make believe

Of pirates and fairies

Of love

This is the story of a little boy who never grew up

Could not

Would not

The boy who never grew up

Top Tip for the man in the row in front of us

A fair number of seats away

If you want to go to a theatre show where well behaved children with a love of theatre sit in silence and do not express their joy and sadness at the play and performances they are experiencing, do not book tickets to a family show, matinee performance in the middle of Christmas week

My six year old twins loved this production so much

That they cried when the cast took their final bows

They did not want the show to finish

They did not want their adventure to end

And that is praise indeed

Thank you to everyone involved in today’s performance of Peter Pan

Just magical!

And thank you Granny and Granddad

For making it possible for us to go