Director: Nel Crouch
Slapstick Picnic delivers exactly what their company name promises with their outdoor version of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, a family-friendly show staged in the Actor’s Church in Covent Garden. This eternally beloved story about the boy who never grew up becomes a high-paced comic farce in this new adaption with plenty of bold characterisation, a surprising amount of dance and movement, and it even cocks a snook at Edwardian gender politics without really resolving it. But the madcap humour and consistent energy levels hold its old and young audience for 120 minutes.
Tucked up in their beds one night, the Darling children are disturbed by a hyperactive flying boy desperately seeking his shadow. Come to hear the stories of eldest child Wendy, Peter Pan soon transports her along with brothers Michael and John to Neverland where they encounter the dastardly pirate Captain Hook who loves to cook as well as Peter’s companions, the Lost Boys, who decide that Wendy is their mother.
The challenge for director Nel Crouch and the Slapstick Picnic company here is to stage Barrie’s bold adventure story with only three actors, a feat they almost pull off with performers Charlotte Driessler, Lucy Green and William Ross-Fawcett taking on a minimum of four characters each, sometimes in the same scene. Rapid hat changes and a surprising number of accents make Neverland a truly multinational fantasy island, so by the time a cowboy pirate arrives in Act Two, no one is remotely surprised. But the characterisation is distinct and even with multiple changes of costume, the cast has applied considerable imagination to its version of this story.
And the humour is light and very physical with plenty of sight gags and lots of extended movement sequences created by Jennifer Fletcher that punctuate the story as the children fly to Neverland, escape from pirates and play together. This is complemented by Michael’s representation as a psychotic hand puppet as well as the nonsense language spoken by Tinkerbell which is peppered with the names of fonts, a joke that runs throughout the show.
But the plot dawdles a little across its two-hour running time with over-extended sequences that set up the Darling household and parents as well as focusing on Wendy’s domestic duties when caring for the Lost Boys. The play returns to this several times, noting Wendy’s annoyance when referred to as ‘mother’ and repeatedly dramatising the exhausted drudgery of being female, but it never really addresses the gender stereotyping or allows the character to be herself which might have sent a stronger message.
Likewise, Wendy’s persistent obsession with Peter and need to win his approval feel uncomfortable, jumping when he calls her and accepting his dismissive behaviour. And some of Peter’s actions are a little emphatic with Ross-Fawcett giving him a sulky, aggressive temper that sits a little awkwardly in such a bright interpretation aimed at children and he is rarely a likeable hero despite the frequent reminders that it is his show. This reflects Barrie’s original text to some degree, but the adaptation is loose enough to perhaps rethink some of those outdated sensibilities.
Nonetheless, the set designed by Ella Barraclough on multiple tiers with a trapdoor is a lot of fun while Green’s Captain Hook has some of the best moments with her detachable kitchen implements and gives a big, bold performance. With lots of comedy detail, Slapstick Picnic certainly lives up to its name and families will enjoy the silliness of it all.
Runs until 15 July 2023
