Theatre Review: Peter Pan Goes Wrong

Peter Pan Goes Wrong

by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields and Jonathan Sayer

Directed by Chris Bean

Sydney Lyric Theatre until March 3

Reviewed by Ron Lee, CSP

If you combine a J. M. Barrie classic with farce, pantomime and a band of actors who are pretending to be performing in a production staged by an amateur theatre company, you have Peter Pan Goes Wrong, playing at the Sydney Lyric Theatre.

Last year, when I saw the first in the series, The Play That Goes Wrong, I left at interval and was assured that this one would be much better.

It’s the popular tale that you all know, but there are malfunctions such as props falling apart, bits dropping off the set, bad timing and accidents with the flying wires. This one-trick pony is ridden with occasional moments of high energy for two hours.

Yes, I get that it’s supposed to be produced by a bunch of amateur actors but there’s a way to do it so that it’s actually entertaining. This has been way overplayed.

This time I stayed until the end and some people seemed to have enjoyed it but walking out of the theatre, I said to my companion, “Well, I suppose it IS approaching the end of the tax year”.

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