The All New Adventures Of Peter Pan - Derngate Theatre, Northampton

Are you ready for panto? I can’t hear you – I said are you ready for panto?!!!  Well, I am and my first panto of the season is at Royal & Derngate Theatre where we have The All New Adventures Of Peter Pan. This panto feels interactive and is fun filled to get you ready for the festive season.  There are fireworks, bubbles and even water pistols (you have been warned).  There are jokes for kids, jokes for adults and jokes for me.  Yes, I need a special joke such as … I ordered pizza for everyone in the audience.  Wow that was a large ask.  Yes, I did laugh at that.  You also get familiar elements such as the ghost bench – such a funny panto moment and I loved the ghost this year.

The All New Adventures Of Peter Pan tells the story of Poppy Sunshine.  Tinkerbell is looking for Poppy who is distantly related to Wendy Darling.  Tink takes Poppy back to visit Peter in Foreverland.  Foreverland is the next island to Neverland for those who didn’t know.  Anyway that mean old Captain Hook hates panto and to stop it he wants to steal the essence of panto. Boo.

John Thomson (Cold Feet, The Fast Show) as Captain Hook is everything you want in a baddie.  His pronunciation is spot on and he isn’t wearing a long curly wig – oh no, so he is charming and evil at the same time.  Quite a feat.  John has a beautiful voice and I felt he could easily be doing Shakespeare.  A quality performance from John.  Simone Robinson plays Miss Doodle and Myrtle the mermaid.  Simone has the most amazing voice making an adaption of a Tina Turner track her own, hitting those notes perfectly.  In my opinion, Simone deserves a record contract.  I could listen to her all day.  

The comedy is provided by Oliver Scott as Charlie who is perfect in the role coming from CBeebies.  A lot of the interaction with the audience comes from Oliver which he does naturally and gives the audience permission to shout out.  We are in safe hands with Oliver.  George Webster plays George and he is the first person with Downs to become a BBC presenter.  This is my first experience of watching a show with someone with Downs and George is fantastic.  His humour shines throughout and he alongside Oliver help interact with the audience.  Gordon Cooper is the resident dame this year playing Mrs Sweet.  I love the accent jokes (Gordon has a Scottish accent) and his costumes are just phenomenal. I especially loved the lighthouse and the costume with the seagulls in her hat.  Be careful if you are a man sitting in the front row – its likely that Mrs Sweet may fancy you.  Poppy Sunshine is played by Millie Davies.  Millie is perfect in the role and her innocence and charm is boundless.  Millie also has a beautiful singing voice and singing Defying Gravity was amazing.

This show has everything you want in a panto.  Its funny, its interactive, it has an amazing cast and makes you feel really ready for Christmas.

The All New Adventures Of Peter Pan is at Derngate Theatre, Northampton until 31 December 2025.