REVIEW: PETER PAN - A NEW PANTOMIME ADVENTURE

BM
Dec 6, 2025
2 min read

We're Hooked by Greenwich Theatre’s Gen Alpha Reworking of the Neverland Classic

We fly to Neverland for a modern reworking of Peter Pan, brimming with topical references for cool London kids.

Greenwich Theatre’s annual panto is a hidden gem, with a breathless succession of jokes for Gen Alpha kids - from Minecraft and Charlie XCX to the two numbers guaranteed to delight children and make parents feel like Methuselah: 6-7.

There are also plenty of smutty double entendres for the grown-ups, like Starkey explaining that the ship’s wheel down his pants was “driving me nuts” and classic film references, like the giant Indiana Jones balls rolling through the audience.

The show begins in an explosion of glitter confetti, with a sassy, hipster Tinkerbell (Olivia Williamson) rollerskating in, speaking fluent TikTok.

We discover Wendy Darling’s great-granddaughter (Nikita Johal) working in the Neverclean Car Wash and dreaming of adventure, when Samuel Bailey’s energetic Peter Pan swoops in to deliver, by flying her off to Neverland in one of her cars.

The standout performances from the show are all aboard the Jolly Roger, from the daft and dastardly Captain Hook (Anthony Spargo, who also wrote the script) the brilliantly smutty and comical Louise Cielecki as Smee, and Paul Critoph, who plays Starkey as the perfect mix of Baldrick and Grandad Trotter.

Naughty Tinkerbell decides Neverland has become boring now that Captain Hook is getting old, so she teases the secret of eternal youth to lure him into a swashbuckling adventure with Pan.

Hook tests a drop from the Elixir of Life on his parrot, and ends up with an egg on his shoulder.

So follows a camp and funny adventure, meeting Yoda-like aliens; mermaids (brimming with aquatic puns) and a soundtrack ranging from Bruce Springsteen, The Who and Queen to Madonna and Tina Turner.

Spargo’s Hook steals the show - along with the secret to eternal youth - and ends up glugging back so much, he turns into a fabulously ridiculous baby.

Like all good pantos, it ends with a sing-off which every child in the audience delights in - Steve’s Lava Chicken Song from the Minecraft Movie. The perfect hit to remind the thrilled children (and parents) in the audience never to grow up.

Peter Pan: A New Pantomime Adventure. Greenwich Theatre, Crooms Hill, London SE10 8ES. All ages. Until 11 January. Tickets from £36.50-£43.50/adult, £19-£22.50/child