Christmas comes early
Barbican Theatre
In JM Barrie’s original play was called Peter Pan, the subsequent novel was Peter and Wendy, so the decision to call the latest iteration of the story Wendy and Peter Pan is not without significance, as the critics noted. This Royal Shakespeare Company production is written by Ella Hickson and was first staged in 2014. Despite it being a traditional seasonal treat, this outing at The Barbican closes before Christmas.
[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]
Four stars ★★★★
The Standard’s Nick Curtis informed is: ‘It features a nimble Daniel Krikler as a feral, sybaritic Peter Pan, Hannah Saxby as a physically gung-ho, jolly-super Wendy Darling, and Toby Stephens as a winningly louche Captain Hook. The design, the effects and the vibe are all spot-on.’ He also told us: ‘Colin Richmond’s sets, including a full pirate frigate, are a detailed delight and the choreography, combat and aerial scenes are beautifully done. On balance, magic.’
Julia Rank at LondonTheatre said: ‘this is a gorgeous spectacle and real “total theatre” experience sprinkled with plenty of fairy dust to delight every member of the family.’
Lucinda Everett for WhatsOnStage enjoyed the way ‘Hickson’s script is stuffed with laughs, and Jonathan Munby’s exuberant direction ramps up the fun. Young audience members will love the physical comedy, toilet humour, and Joe Hewetson’s perfectly useless pirate.’
Calling it ‘a splendid treat’, The Telegraph’s Dominic Cavendish explained that the adaptation ‘puts a feminist emphasis on Wendy’s struggle for independence amid the lost boys of Neverland, while also reflecting the brevity and fragility of life itself.’
Welcoming a feminist version of the story, at BroadwayWorld went on: ‘Hickson’s script is light and witty, with deeper tinges of loss, love and liberation that all children – young and old – can relate to. And of course, there’s all the added fun of pirates, fairies and a ticking crocodile’. She found it ‘flies along at an exhilarating pace,’
Three stars ★★★
Holly O’Mahony in The Stage noted: ‘there’s plenty of charm to this revival, which is sure to delight young audiences, in particular, with its fiery explosions and liberal sprinklings of glittering fairy dust.’
Time Out’s Andrzej Lukowski gave us some highlights: ‘even if the play can’t help but compulsively spell out its points, there’s still fun to be had along the way. The fight scenes are great and the actors inhabiting the Lost Boys enjoyably spoof childishly mangled versions of masculinity. Daniel Krikler impresses as Peter, a tangle of loose-limbed bluster. Meanwhile, as Captain Hook (and Mr Darling), Toby Stephens eats most of the scenery before the crocodile gets round to eating him.’
The Independent’s Alice Saville described it as ‘a fascinating, feminist riff on a classic – albeit one that’s more suited to misty-eyed adults than actual kids.’
Is it drama or panto? Helen Hawkins at The Arts Desk got mixed messages: ‘the whole needs to be turned down from 11 and the comic scenes tightened up. The mixed tone isn’t helped by Shuhei Kamimura’s rather standard-issue music, which signals a kind of dramatic portentousness that isn’t on the stage. This is not a production graced with sentiment, though a dash of it would be welcome.’
The Sunday Times’ Dominic Maxwell felt it didn’t live up to its promise: ‘the show can feel like a jumble of good ideas, partly because, on a set that never entirely leaves the playroom, Neverland remains a notional place rather than somewhere fully specific and vivid. Hannah Saxby’s Wendy is lively and likeable but not quite as outright fascinating as the script wants her to be. Shuhei Kamimura’s recorded soundtrack is more filmic than theatrical.’
Two stars ★★
The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar found it all a bit much: ‘It should all arrest the senses but seems like a cheap sugar-rush of spectacle that does not hit the spot. Actors rush around, often shouting or screeching their lines so that they really do seem like adults playing at being children too energetically.’
Critics’ average rating 3.4★
Value Rating 42 [Value Rating is a combination of Critics’ average rating and typical ticket price]
Wendy and Peter Pan can be seen at the Barbican Theatre until 22 November 2025. Buy tickets direct from the theatre
If you’ve seen Wendy and Peter Pan, please leave a comment, review and/or rating below