Friday 5 June 2015

J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan

Regent's Park Open air Theatre
As a child growing up I would often have dreams that I could fly, the process was simple I flapped my arms, gained height and I was off. Flying anywhere and everywhere that my imagination would take me.

Flying
I am sure that some of this vivid imagination came from my love of books and reading. I could often be found nose deep in a book, growing up many of the children's books I read had a central character who could fly (Mr Majeika, The Magic Finger and The Magic Faraway Tree) so this helped to expand my imagination. 
Peter pan
One of my favourite books as a child was J.M.Barrie's Peter Pan. So when I saw that the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park had an adaptation of Peter Pan, I got busy booking my tickets.

The Open Air Theatre is set right in the heart of the beautiful Regent's Park.

Regent's Park Open air theatre
Open air theatre
There is something rather magical about sitting out in the open air watching a theatre production. The theatre has covered dining, homemade burgers on offer and seating to have a wonderful picnic. 
Regent's Park open air theatre
The set design for the show was amazing, considerable thought had gone into making creative use of the space. The set designer Jon Bausor also designed the 2012 London Paralympics opening ceremony.  

I absolutely loved the use of clothing and household props and puppet design, throughout the show to create imaginative housing, under sea creatures (mermaids and fish), the crocodile chasing Captain Hook and the wonderful jealous Tinker Bell made out of oil lamps. 

The absolute highlight of the show had to be Peter Pan (Hiran Abeysekera).
Peter Pan
Who managed to energetically sprint and fly across the night's sky with Tinker Bell (Rachel Donovan) and Wendy (Kae Alexander). Squint hard enough, you might just see Tinkerbell and the Lost Boys somewhere up in the night sky yelling at Peter Pan.

Peter with his unending childlike qualities and boisterous antics manages to have the audience eating out of his hands. 
Regent's Park Open Air Theartre
Captain Hook (David Birrell) is artful at wielding his hook and a sword to frighten both his own pirates, the lost boys and the watching audience.
Peter Pan
We had a truly wonderful evening, if you live in London or are visiting you definitely need to book yourself tickets. The Peter Pan show runs till the 14th of June so you will need to be quick. 

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre upcoming performances Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (16th July - 29th August) and Lord of the Flies (3rd - 12th September). 

WWW.openairtheatre.com

*Thank you to Tristram Kenton for kind use of the photographs

 photo foodieforce_32.jpg

19 comments:

  1. This looks like so much fun! It's a shame it's only running for the next week, I would have loved to see it. Will have to content myself with reading the book instead :) xxx
    Lucy @ La Lingua Italy

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    1. We were incredibly lucky with the weather, it was a superb show. There are more shows coming up that look good worth having a look Lucy x

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  2. I love Peter Pan, it's one of my favourites too. I've never been to an open air production but this looks amazing! I'll have to see if there's anything similar nearby now the weather is improving!


    Sarah :)
    Saloca in Wonderland

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    1. Sitting outside adds a whole dimension to the viewing, was great fun Lucy

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  3. That looks like so much fun. I used to dream about flying all the time when I was little. I believed I could for some time but I always get dreams and reality mixed up haha.

    Corinne x
    www.skinnedcartree.com

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    1. I still occasionally dream about flying it is always the same kind of dream. The theatre show bought back wonderful childhood memories Lucy x

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  4. I love this! It looks like so much fun, and the set is just wonderful! I really like the open air theatre concept as well, I would like to go to one sometime :)

    Ash | Liakada

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    1. It is lovely to be out in the fresh air and it adds another dimension to the theatre Lucy x

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  5. What a great summer activity!
    Lots of love,
    Angie
    SilverSpoon London

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    1. It was great fun Angie definitely recommend Lucy x

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  6. wow.. that looks like a wonderful theatre production!! :D

    Have a great week!
    Animated Confessions

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    1. Considerable thought had gone into the production Lucy

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  7. This looks awesome! I used to love Peter Pan as a child, still do! I don't live in London but I'm half an hour away, and I'll make any excuse to go up there, hehe :) I loved the Magic Faraway series as a child, too, good old Moonface x

    ♥.•*¨ Amanda Says ¨*•.♥

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    1. The show was brilliant very clever production. They have a few productions coming up over the next few months so well worth a visit. The Faraway series was great, really grew a child's imagination Lucy x

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  8. Oh, I love the Open Air Theatre! This looks like such a beautiful production, so sad I'll probably miss it :(

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  9. It sounds like such a fun show, the design looks great! Mr Majeika was one of my favourite books to read as a child too :) xx

    Toasty

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  10. This looks amazing
    I'm just going to miss lord of the flies xx

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