Peter Pan, Manchester Opera House, Manchester Review

Good Points
Strike and their martial art acrobatics.
Jen Pringle. She connected with the audience, knew how to act and effused genuine enthusiasm right till the end.
Gary Wilmot - warmed up the audience and kept them happy

Bad Points
Gemma Atkinson. Why didn't they just get a Thunderbird puppet and dangle it on a string- it would have been more realistic in my opinion.

General Comments
In a pantomime called Peter Pan, a fair proportion of the show is going to feature a character called Peter Pan, so at least get someone who connects with the audience. Gemma Atkinson to me just seems to have very little personna and certainly not that of a devilish , little imp willing to fight a full grown pirate. Someone told me once that acting was all about actors reacting to other actors and events on the stage - I should imagine pantomime is one step further and involves reacting to the audience. Gemma Atkinson did none of this and seemed unaware of anyone around her. Her scenes with the stage children would have been totally boring if it had not been for Jen Pringle,as Wendy, rescuing the situation. In fact, I think Jen Pringle would have made a better Peter Pan.

As it was the pantomime was a show of two parts - a mostly boring bit featuring Gemma Atkinson and just thinly rescued by Jen Pringle and a much better half featuring John Thompson and Gary Wilmot . They played Captain Hook and Mr Smee respectively. The pair carried out some funny and deft scenes together which made the audience feel they had not been forgotten - which, of course, is what pantomime is all about. All in all though if I could have got my money back I would have done.It was supposed to be about Peter Pan and Peter Pan was a nonentity with no magic to entice the audience. Its the worst pantomime I have seen at the Opera House.