For too long Peter Pan has been used as a panto, exploited for its magical lands and swashbuckling pirates, but now under the deft direction of John Tiffany, David Greig’s new version for the National Theatre of Scotland returns to its twisted, death soaked roots rightfully examining the impact industry has on the poorest among us.
Set on the Firth of Forth, Greig’s version brings JM Barrie’s words back to their origins and focuses more carefully on the doomed recursive loop that traps all obsessions; whether youth, money or love. As usual, Pan (Kevin Guthrie) whisks the trio off to Neverland with the intention of Wendy (Kirsty Mackay) becoming mum, but between battling Hook (Cal MacAninch) and fending off Wendy’s advances the soulful score from Davey Anderson begins to penetrate and somber disparity between the classes trickles out.
With an unusually large volume of poor Vs rich on TV and the Tories back in power, the focus of this production feels particularly relevant. Offering a glimpse into the grim reality behind one of Scotland’s greatest achievements, the harsh regime and countless deaths local lads succumbed to under the hand of budding engineers vying for bonuses, the idea that deaths are necessary to get ahead in business is shown in plain language. On Laura Hopkins majestic set, the excellent ensemble gracefully weave in and out of the girders allowing the fighting and singing to flow from the stage with Alasdair Macrae as Smee offering some particularly macabre tunes on the fiddle. Greig and Tiffany have created an atmosphere somewhere between illusion and reality and as the Lost Boys don their top hats and take up engineering jobs courtesy of the Darlings the vicious circle of the wealthy exploiting the poor for personal gain is seen to continue.
Showing @ Festival Theatre until 12 June, then @ Her Majesty’s Theatre Aberdeen.
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