THEATRE REVIEW: Peter Pan, Floral Pavilion Theatre, New Brighton

Dec 19 2012 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

IN NORMAL life, a super soaker being fired at you ceases to be amusing at around seven years of age.

But this is panto land, where anything goes – and I found myself screaming with laughter at the prospect of being drenched by a series of increasingly large water guns (tip – don’t sit near the front if you’d rather stay dry).

And don’t tell anyone, but there was just a tinge of disappointment when the fire hose panto baddie Captain Hook produced next failed to work.

The Floral Pavilion’s festive offering Peter Pan has so far emerged unscathed from the curse that seems to have struck Christmas shows in Liverpool and it’s a treat.

The flying, sword fights and dance sequences are magical – particularly Smee (Derek Moran) leading a bunch of pirates in their own version of Gangnam Style.

The Floral has stepped up its game in recent years and this show is a very slick production from director Anthony Williams, complete with no-expense spared costumes and a realistic-looking mechanical crocodile.

Gary Turner is brilliantly bad as Captain Hook and lends a touch of class to proceedings. He forms a fun partnership with Derek Moran’s Smee.

The jokes are as awful as you’d expect (“You should probably laugh now, they don’t get any better” quips Moran at one point) but the colourful fun on stage is enough to keep the younger members of the audience on the edge of their seats throughout.

Jack McMullen makes for a confident, swashbuckling Peter Pan, flying on wires like he’s being doing it forever. And Lucy Johnson’s rollerskating Tinkerbell with added bite adds to the fun, turning chart hit Jar Of Hearts into a mournful lament for her lost wings.