The vivid imagination of James Matthew Barrie has never been in doubt.
His tales of flying children, boys who never grow up, nasty adversaries, a crocodile with a taste for a pirate captain belie his humble upbringing in Kirriemuir.
It is to the credit of Janys Chambers that her adaptation for this pre-Christmas jolly sticks true to the bare bones of Sir James’ adventures.
Shining sign of the times
This Pitlochry production, under associate director Ben Occhipinti, is stripped bare with minimal setting by Anna Orton and is a superb example of what can be achieved in this era of budget restraints.
It does have an occasional nod towards (whisper it!) pantomime — eg stylised sword battles, girl playing boy, lady playing man, running around the aisles, two comic “idiots”, audience help in reviving dying fairy — the kids (all ages) just love it!
The cast of hundreds (played by nine) are on a romp with some occasional bursts of Gaelic-style chants in superb harmony.
Robbie Scott is the naive Peter Pan with no desire to grow up (not such a bad idea).
Tinkerbell and pixie dust
He “flies” off with the Darling siblings on a chaotic trip to Neverland with a little help of pixie dust from the enigmatic Tinkerbell — great comic timing by Patricia Panther.
Fiona Wood delightfully leads her brothers John (Ruairidh McDonald) and Michael (Stephanie Payne) as she takes over motherly duties for the Lost Boys (no, kids, not Lost Boyz).
The aforementioned “idiots” (no disrespect) are inept pirates Delme Thomas, using his Welsh accent (and many others) to the full, and Euan Bennet, who also manages to fit into a dog costume as Nanna.
Deirdre Davis manages to surprise us all, not as the lovely Mrs Darling, but as the hirsute Smee, right-hand “man” of the nasty Captain Hook.
More scatty than scary
Colin McCredie is more scatty than scary as his attempts at doing away with Peter Pan are ultimately thwarted, eventually falling prey to the giant crocodile with a tick-tocking clock (no, kids, not TikTok) and Hook’s left hand in his belly.
A great antidote to all that surrounds us at the moment — all it takes is “a bit of faith, trust and pixie dust.”
You can get hooked on Peter Pan at Pitlochry until December 23.
