The weather was glorious and the girls enjoyed the poignant and often moving rendition of this popular children’s classic. The stagecraft was inventive and startlingly original, the ensemble strong and the puppet-work astounding.

Gabriela Leon-Acosta from IIIS has this to say about the afternoon’s events:

“War is not a children’s game but, as Wendy begins to tell the tale of a boy who never grew up, innocence was reborn. The soldiers transformed into boys, play fighting, not knowing the cruelty and reality of war. Throughout the play, The Open Air Theatre Company cleverly intermingled elements of WW1, for example, the story was set in a hospital ward. The mermaids had rusty gas masks for faces. The hospital beds, which transformed into poppy fields symbolised the soldiers who had died and possibly the ones who lay in those very beds.

As usual, The Open Air Theatre Company’s staging was designed inventively so that an object could be converted in front of our eyes for different scenes; for example, hospital beds swiftly turned into a house for Wendy. The production had tense moments. Unexpectedly, out of the stage emerged the huge mouth of a crocodile waiting for the sweet taste of Captain Hook’s flesh, which he once had a chance to savour. Despite the fact that Hook is out to catch the children, the play encouraged sympathy for him. He once was a Lost Boy himself, friendless he grew into a cynical and bitter man. This production combined the excitement of a childhood classic with war-time grief and is much recommended.”

Thanks to Mrs Parkes for arranging the trip and to the teachers who accompanied the year group on the sunny Wednesday afternoon.

Photos © Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. Photo: Johan Persson.