Peter/Wendy by
Jeremy Bloom. Based on JM Barrie’s Peter Pan and Wendy.
Directed by
Rachel Pengilly. Composer and sound designer. Shannon Parnell. Movement
director and Stage Manager. Hannah Pengilly. Set and costume designer Helen
Wojtas. Lighting designer Jacob Aquilina. Fight director Wajanoah Donohoe.
Intimacy coordinator Chipz. Ribix
Productions and Lexi Sekuless Productions. The Mill Theatre. September
3-27.2025. Bookings:info@ribixproductions.com.au.
www.milltheatreatdairyroad.com
Reviewed by
Peter Wilkins
If you believe in the magic of theatre then clap your hands loudly for Ribix Productions’ cast and creatives of Peter/Wendy. For the production is indeed magical. From the moment we step into the theatre, we find ourselves in a wonderland, a cabinet of curiosities, in a world of Victoriana. Members of the cast approach asking for happy thoughts that can then be written on the wall. The whole theatre comes alive with the wonder of the imagination. Wendy lies Ophelia like on a bed, covered with a floral designed quilt. Designer Helen Wojtas has turned the theatre into a tapestry of wonderment. Shannon Parnell’s music complements with the whimsy and charm of her composition.
Mark Lee (Smee), Heidi Silberman (Hook)
Veronica Baroulina (Wendy)
I left the
theatre with the happy thought that Jeremy Bloom has opened my eyes with his
adaptation of the iconic Peter Pan tale of the boy who never grew up. Where I might
have once regarded the story of Peter Pan, Wendy and the Lost Boys of Neverland
as a childhood fantasy story in Rachel Pengilly’s production at the intimate
Mill Theatre I became transported to a darker, deeper world of complex
emotions. Bloom has stripped back J.M.Barrie’s adventure to key moments that
plunge us into a shadowy world of dreams and desires. The beloved characters
are still there. Peter (Joshua James), Wendy (Veronica Baroulina), Mr. and Mrs.
Darling (Mark Lee and Heidi Silberman), Tinkerbell(Chipz),Tiger Lily (Sarah
Hartley) the Lost Boy( Phoebe Fielden), Smee (Mark Lee) and Captain Hook, comically sporting a
coat-hanger for a hook (Heidi Silberman). There are still the thrills of flight,
Wendy’s kidnap, Peter’s battle with the dastardly Hook and his bungling mate
Smee and Tinkerbell’s death by poison until an audience, believing
wholeheartedly in fairies, clap their hands at Peter’s bequest to bring the
loyal, yet jealous Tinkerbell back to life.
Sarah Hartley (Tiger Lily) and
Lost Boy (Phoebe Fielden)
What makes Bloom’s adaptation more evocative is the perceptive insight into human frailty. Pengilly’s direction is mercurial, capturing Peter’s perplexed defiance, Wendy’s naive innocence, Tiger Lily’s bravado, Tinker Bell’s fear of rejection and Mrs. Darling’s motherly despair. The action moves quickly, too quickly at times. There are moments when the magic needs to linger still a little longer, transporting us through fairy lights to the stars, imbuing us with the haunting other-worldliness of Neverland.
Pengilly’s mission is to provide opportunities for young emerging actors to work with more experienced performers on projects that will encourage a pathway to the profession. In this Australian premiere, professional and amateur merge seamlessly in Bloom’s reimagined version of Barrie’s Peter Pan. Here the cast convincingly suit the action to the emotion and the emotion to the action as the audience is transported into the world of memory and experience to reflect on the nature of childhood, the bond between a parent and child, the wonder of imagination and the peril of fear. And then there is the eternal conflict between good and evil where good must always triumph. More than ever I am reminded in Bloom’s version of the import of JM Barrie’s classic children’s story and Pengilly’s lucid theatrical interpretation wonderfully captures the feeling that the story of Peter Pan, Wendy and the Lost Boys of Neverland is a timeless cautionary tale for every generation.
Wendy (Veronica Baroulina), Tinkerbell (Chipz) and
Peter Pan (Joshua James) in Jeremy Bloom's Peter/Wendy
Director
Pengilly and her cast and creatives have transformed the Mill Theatre into an
immersive fable. From whimsy to
excitement, from adventure to reflection, from suspense to enlightenment, Ribix
Productions Peter/Wendy is a feast of
entertaining delight.
Photography: Darkhorse Creative
