Review | Hong Kong Ballet’s Peter Pan: so much fun it lifts your spirits – Septime Webre’s humour shines through
- You wouldn’t know this production is 18 years old – it bursts with freshness and energy, helped by an imaginative set, fabulous costumes and astute casting
- Shen Jie makes an ideal Peter Pan, and Webre, turning the story on its head, makes the villains of the piece figures of fun who steal every scene they’re in
The last time I saw the boy who never grew up glide above and across the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre stage was when Britain’s Northern Ballet Theatre brought David Nixon’s Peter Pan to open the International Arts Carnival in Hong Kong in 2010. It was fun – but not half as fun as Septime Webre’s adaptation of the J.M. Barrie classic.
What makes the work really tick is Webre’s sense of humour, both in storytelling and choreography – in his hands this well-known and popular children’s story is, quite unexpectedly, turned on its head.
The show opens with a dancing shadow projected onto a large screen, which lifts to reveal the Darling nursery, where Wendy, John and Michael are wrestling with their hyperactive pet dog, Nana, before bedtime. When the children are finally tucked under the duvet, a gust of wind blows the bedroom window open and in comes Tinkerbell, in the form of a blinking light projection, followed by a flying Peter Pan looking for his mischievous shadow.
We all know what happens next: Wendy helps Peter stitch his shadow back on his feet and everyone takes off to Neverland, home to the Lost Boys and other mythical creatures.
There, they meet the villains: Captain Hook, Peter’s nemesis, and the Crocodile (which bit the pirate’s hand off). But here’s the thing: neither can be described as menacing. In fact, Webre’s Captain Hook is more like Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, while the Crocodile, whose entrance is preceded by a tick-tock sound (because of the clock he swallowed), is bright green and has some snazzy moves.
The scene in which Peter disguises himself as a nymph to rescue Indian princess Tiger Lily from the captain is a theatrical gem, peppered with references from classical ballets such as Giselle and Swan Lake.
The casting for this production is astute. In Cast A (which we saw on the opening night), the title role is tailor-made for principal dancer Shen Jie, whose boyish looks and charm make him the perfect Peter Pan. Forrest Rain Oliveros stole every scene he was in as Nana the Dog and the Crocodile, while Luis Torres’ Captain Hook was pure fun; his tango duet with the croc brought down the house.
There was also some good dancing. A sequence in which Tiger Lily (soloist Chen Zhiyao) and the Indian maidens gather by moonlight is classical in style and was performed with grace and discipline. There was good acting too, from 14-year-old guest Nicolas Yu Man-hin and the company’s Jordan Kan Ka-kit as Michael and John Darling respectively.
Technically, the wire-flying was smooth and seamless, and theatrically, having children dressed up as cannonballs is a stroke of genius. Carmon Deleone’s score was performed by the Hong Kong Sinfonietta under the baton of Gerry Cornelius. The music got off to a sluggish start but the pace soon picked up.
This is just the show to lift the spirits.
The production will move to Sha Tin Town Hall and runs until August 25.
Peter Pan, Hong Kong Ballet, Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre. Reviewed: August 16, 2019
