Peter Pan Goes Wrong - National Tour
Peter Pan Goes Wrong is Mischief Theatre’s famed sequel to The Play That Goes Wrong, following the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’s production of Peter Pan, but much like their previous productions, nothing goes according to plan and even results in personal conflicts in the cast, learning about their relationships and how each cast member changes over the course of the show.
Peter Pan Goes Wrong is a sequel, but you don’t have to have seen The Play That Goes Wrong to understand it, as you immediately follow the action from the minute you enter the auditorium, during the ‘pre-show’. Before many haven’t even taken their seats, the Cornley tech team are searching the theatre for a lost hammer. As more audience members take their seats, we are introduced to more characters: Trevor Watson (Jake Burgum), the stage manager; Chris Bean (Jack Michael Stacey), the director; Dennis Tyde (Clark Devlin), who turns up late, and still doesn’t know any of his lines; Max Bennett (Theo Toksvig-Stewart), an excitable actor who keeps sticking his head out of the curtain to wave at the audience; Jonathan Harris (Gareth Tempest), smugly asking people if they want their programmes signed; Robert Grove (Matthew Howell), trying his best to work the lights, even feeding an extension chord from the stage to the back of the stalls; and Lucy Grove (Rosemarie Akwafo), Robert’s Niece, trying to run out of the theatre because of her chronic stage fright. The immediate chaos of the pre-show sets up the show perfectly, showing how unprepared their performance is. The actors captivate the audience before the show even starts.
I’d say this is a show where the audience, in itself, plays a character with the constant battle of the actors trying to get through the show, and Jack Michael Stacey’s Chris Bean, trying his best to produce a serious vignette, rather than a pantomime. Stacey feeds off the audience superbly with this character, which is definitely important for the role. His ability to use his anger to prompt the audience, while still controlling them, holding them in the palm of his hand, is brilliant.
Much like the majority of Mischief’s shows, there is no performer that falls behind in this production. Because each performer goes on their own ‘journey’ over the course of the show, it is hard to single out any one person. From Clark Devlin’s confused Dennis Tyde as he runs on stage with a seahorse, exclaiming “I don’t know what’s going on!” to the audience falling in love with the Theo Toksvig-Stewart’s Max Bennett, constantly rooting for him (and his relationship with Sandra) throughout. Audiences can clearly see the internal conflicts of Ciara Morris’ Sandra Wilkinson, when she has little ‘moments’ with Max compared to the close passion of Gareth Tempest’s Jonathan Harris, who becomes a rather unlikeable character in the latter half of the show. As well as this, Jake Burgum’s performance as Trevor Watson was so convincing that it is hard to think of him as a performer. His portrayal of the character is so amazingly believable. Matthew Howell brings a previously unseen side to Robert Grove that allows the audience to really connect with the character, while being equally and effortlessly hilarious through the entire production; similar to Jean-Luke Worrell’s Francis Beaumont, with his inability to remember the correct props, glitter-throwing, his growing battle with his narrator chair and a sassy rendition of ‘All That Jazz’ from Chicago!
Every tiniest part of the show is perfect, even down to the performance of Clare Noy, multi-rolling as one of the stage crew characters and the paramedic, who had me laughing in the smallest parts of her performance, when trying to hide from the audience against the set in a high-vis jacket, or joining in with the pirate arm movements when she realises she is on stage
Without spoiling certain elements of the show, Simon Scullion’s stunning set design also ‘goes wrong’ tremendously, when you combine Cornley with a revolving stage. It is a true star of the show in itself. As well as this, co-composers and members of the original mischief team, Richard Baker and Rob Falconer (Mischief’s original Trevor Watson), have created three fantastic and incredibly catchy songs that you will go away singing, even days after seeing the show.
There are so many, yet so few words to describe Peter Pan Goes Wrong. It constantly keeps you on your feet, never knowing what to expect with cleverly timed call-backs, injuries, mishaps and chaos. As I have mentioned in previous reviews, any time I get the honour of seeing a Mischief show, my expectations are always met and majorly exceeded; they are an insanely talented company. Every theatregoer needs to experience at least one of their shows in their lifetime. Original writers and theatre royalty Henry Shields, Henry Lewis and Jonathan Sayer are absolute geniuses and playwright masterminds. Peter Pan Goes Wrong is the absolute perfect follow up to The Play That Goes Wrong, but also stands alone as a masterclass of comedy in theatre. Of course, it is yet again produced from Mischief bringing another of the greatest modern plays to exist. Because of how amazing it is, I gave the show six stars, but in true Cornley fashion, it looks like the last one has gone missing, so I’ll have to give it five stars instead.
This show was reviewed on Tuesday 2nd April 2024 at 7:30pm at the Curve Theatre, Leicester where it runs until the 7th April 2024. Tickets available here: Peter Pan Goes Wrong - Curve Theatre, Leicester (curveonline.co.uk)
Following from runs on Broadway and in the West End, Peter Pan Goes Wrong is currently on a National Tour of the UK. For more details, and to book tickets, head over to https://www.mischiefcomedy.com/whats-on/peter-pan-goes-wrong/uk-tour/
***** stars
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Photo credit: Pamela Raith
