The Death Of Peter Pan

The Death Of Peter Pan not only looks into the life of Michael Davies adopted son of Peter Pan Creator JM Barrie, but also the very person who in his youth helped the writer define the role. The play has a nice balance of giving you enough of a history lesson while exploring the personal frustrations of Michael of his relationship with Barrie and the growing love between Michael and his friend Rupert Buxton. The play was first performed by the Fly-On-The-Wall Theatre back in 1989 and this comeback performance of the show felt like it lacked the punch. While the set and costumes brought us into the world superbly, the opening half was slow and obvious with not much to grab our attention. On stage the chemistry between Michael (Kieran McShane) and Rupert Buxton (Jordan Armstrong) was beautifully intense and it is incredible to watch these guys work. The show as a whole looks magnificent but while change of location is necessary to push the tale, each scene really closed off the audience with an overly ominous soundtrack. Ian Rooney as Barrie had some wonderfully poetic monologues but brought so much cliched dread that the tragedy didn't have a lasting effect, which for a story so fascinating is a frustrating problem. The title and opening scene tell us to expect a tragedy but the story never really took us away from that and by the time the show really kicked in it was ten minutes from curtain call.

Chapel Off Chapel to Sunday 2 June