Presented by Independent Theatre Inc.
Reviewed 21 August 2014
Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland… I know what you’re thinking. Both are done to death, but somehow there are still some intriguing emotions and dramas that can be squeezed out of the two classic texts. John Logan’s 2013 play Peter and Alice is a brutally emotive exploration of the two real life characters that inspired two great stories, and the two unhealthy relationships that emerged around them.
Independent Theatre’s Peter and Alice is the 100th production by the company (now in its 30th anniversary year), and so stakes were very high to get it right. While director Rob Croser definitely succeeded in producing an airtight, almost pitch-perfect production, the source material leads to a lot of droning sentimentality.
The stories of Peter and Alice are tragic, woefully so. You will definitely not come out of this one feeling cheery, and although that’s not exactly a bad thing, when coupled with some over-long, dreary monologues Peter and Alice becomes a bit of a challenge.
All the actors involved in this production are fantastic. Domenic Panuccio is a stuttering, all-too-real Lewis Carroll. David Roach does a great job with his Scottish accent and bold demeanour. Ben Francis makes a spectacularly impish Peter Pan and Emma Bleby is a darling Alice, seemingly plucked straight from the Disney film.
Pam O’Grady and William Cox take the leading roles, originally held by Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw, and perform their characters amazingly. O’Grady can jump between a high-brow British Lady and a whimsical Alice in the blink of an eye, and Cox seems born to weep on stage. Cox’s performance is powerful and well practiced, almost to the point of seeming slightly artificial.
In fact, maybe that’s the problem with the whole play: things seem a bit too practiced. When emotions are raging as high as they are, you don’t want to sound like you’re reading off a script. The sheer weight of the source material does alleviate this feeling of artificiality a bit however, and you do get drawn pretty deeply into the psychological rabbit hole (sorry, I couldn’t resist).
What this production does do really well is transitioning between present-day reality, memory and bizarre hallucinations. In a way, this play is three in one, merged together through well-written monologues. Peter Pan dances around his real-life inspiration, and Lewis Carroll watches from afar and from times long past. The folding set, with a colourful Wonderland/Neverland mashup hiding behind the walls of a dusty book-store, is magical without going over-the-top and, not to mention, incredibly well made.
All in all, Peter and Alice is an emotionally charged tragedy, infused with dry wit, fascinating portrayals of humanity and light-hearted magic. These conflicting elements come together to produce an intriguing play that suffers from its own success. Saying that, I have to say that it remains an undeniably powerful one as well.
Reviewed by James Rudd
Venue: Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre, King William St
Season: 21 – 30 August
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
Tickets: $23.25 – $40.55
Bookings: Book online through the Adelaide Festival Centre or phone BASS on 131 246
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