Think Lovely Thoughts: A Delightful Peter Pan Jr.
Photo: Snethemba Ngcobo
J.M. Barrie first introduced Peter Pan to the world in 1904, and it is a measure of the story's peculiar power that over a century later it still lands with the force of something entirely new. The tale of the boy who wouldn't grow up carries within it something that children feel instinctively and adults understand only in retrospect: the bittersweet knowledge that childhood is not a permanent address. Jill Girard, who directs and produces this production, puts it well in her note on the show: it "balances whimsical adventure with deeper, often darker themes of abandonment and the inevitability of growing up." That balance is precisely what this staging achieves, and what lifts it above the merely entertaining.
Second Star to the Right
The Peoples Theatre has not staged Peter Pan for over a decade, and this return brings with it the updated Broadway version of the story, a first for the theatre. The result is a production that feels both faithful to the classic and freshly conceived. Grant Knottenbelt's set design roots the story efficiently in its two worlds: the warm domestic calm of the Darling nursery and the wilder, more dangerous textures of Neverland. Luciano Zuppa’s costumes do much of the heavy narrative lifting, distinguishing characters instantly and with flair. The face paint, in particular, is a treat: vivid and inventive across the full range of characters, from the Braves to the mermaids to the pirates, it gives the production a visual identity that roars with life.
The adult performers anchor the show with confidence and warmth. Raymond Skinner's Peter is all restless energy and easy charm, a Peter Pan who feels genuinely ageless rather than merely young. The dual casting of Lesedi Rich as both Captain Hook and Mr. Darling is a clever choice that the production wears lightly. Hook is played with exactly the right mixture of menace and absurdity, and the link between the two figures (a longstanding tradition in productions of this story, and one Barrie himself endorsed) quietly reinforces the show's themes without spelling them out. Bethany-Joy Jiyane brings grace and warmth to her roles as Mrs. Darling and Tiger Lily, and Luciano Zuppa brings the kind of seasoned comic timing that only comes with decades on stage. Junior Geel rounds out the adult ensemble with genuine vitality.
The Children of Neverland
What makes this production exceptional, though, is what happens when the adult cast shares the stage with the rotating ensemble of young performers who populate its world. These children; playing Wendy, John, Michael, Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys, the Braves, the pirates, the crocodile, and more; are simply astonishing. They are precise without being stiff, energetic without spilling into chaos, and utterly committed to the world of the play. There is no sense of a child marking time until a cue; every young performer is present, alive, and in the story.
The role of Tinker Bell is given to one of the young cast members, and it is a decision that pays off completely. There is something unexpectedly moving about seeing a child embody that particular character: the fierce, wordless loyalty; the flash of jealousy; the quiet courage. It strips away the CGI glitter that modern audiences might associate with the fairy and returns her to something essentially theatrical and human.
I really enjoyed the flying sequences. Rather than attempting wire rigging (which is always a fraught undertaking), the creative team has used projected video, synchronised precisely to the music, to put the Darling children (and Peter Pan) in the sky. It works magnificently. The effect is seamless, joyful, and just slightly magical in a way that is hard to account for. When Peter and Wendy and the boys soar above London towards that second star to the right, the audience believes it.
Sound, too, deserves mention: the production runs cleanly on its audio, a genuine achievement in a genre that can be plagued by microphone difficulties. Coenraad Rall's musical direction keeps the score crisp and forward-moving throughout, and Sandy Dyer Richardson's choreography is sharp and well-suited to the mixed ensemble of adults and children performing together.
Photo: Snethemba Ngcobo
A Production Worth Believing In
There is something that Jill Girard said about the longevity of this story that has stayed with me. She observed that Peter Pan has survived more than a century of telling because it touches something universal: the longing for a world where imagination is sovereign and responsibility can wait. Watching this production, it is easy to believe her. The children in the audience are gripped because they are still living in that world; the adults are gripped because they remember it (and perhaps even long for it).
Peter Pan Jr. is a handshake across generations, a reminder that the stories that shaped the people sitting next to you are the same ones now shaping the small person in the row ahead.
Think lovely thoughts and get yourself to Neverland while you still can.
Peter Pan Jr. runs at the Peoples Theatre until Sunday, 26 July 2026.