STERTS Theatre’s latest in-house production takes a fresh look at an enchanting childhood classic.

Reversing the title of the original novel by J M Barrie, Ella Hickson’s Wendy and Peter Pan puts the character of Wendy centre stage. The play explores female identity, roles, and relationships as Wendy journeys to Neverland, casting Hook, Smee and the band of pirates as women, and imagining Tinker Bell as a feisty, quick-witted fairy of older years who could happily have stepped out of a Loose Women episode. We’re inside Wendy’s head as she emerges from the constraints of the expectations placed upon her, but there’s a parallel story of Mrs Darling and the place she is navigating within her marriage and her family, and of Hook as a woman ageing.

The plot follows the original, and the same themes are there: courage, imagination, and maternal love; the tension between the careless, wild joy of childhood and the burdens of adulthood. Hickson widens the lens out still further to explore themes of gender identity and fluidity, and her play is really not just so much about what it is to be a woman as what it is to be a human trying to find a place that feels like it fits. Each of the characters is looking for something or coming to terms with something: a lost child, unrequited love, or advancing age.

All that could make it sound like two heavy going hours! It’s anything but. Thanks to deft, clever scriptwriting, the play brings loads of laughter throughout, and there’s a driving pace to the narrative and scene changes that keeps audience and actors on their toes. Watching the Sterts Theatre company perform this adaptation was exhilarating and very funny.

Just occasionally during the big set pieces it felt a bit too busy and noisy and the audience might have felt a bit bombarded. The play was at its best when it stepped down a gear to allow the actors space, giving us the chance to reflect and enjoy the emotion of the moment.

Director Mark Sidey created something beautiful in the opening few minutes and for me these were the best. We meet the Darling family in all their loving exuberance and each of the characters is developed. Then comes a change of temperature to something truly unsettling as little Tom becomes ill: the ticking clock becomes a motif, linking with the crocodile that later haunts Hook and her own struggle with mortality. The scene as Pan and his shadows slip away into the night with the boy was ethereal.

The movement and physical theatre really stood out in this production, and the ‘shadows’ deserve huge praise. They were agile, responsive, and unintrusive, bringing much to enrich meaning, and enabling the flying by Pan and the Darling children. Then there were the Lost Boys, whose choreography and chemistry brought a huge amount of fun and energy.

Imy Morris as Wendy was incredible – her expression and body language in the first menacing scene with Doc Giles conveyed the awe, fear and respect of death so well. As Wendy juggles the roles of mother, sister, daughter, and friend, and her emerging feelings for Peter, we feel her frustration and her uncertainty. It says something about her immersion in the character that I was completely unaware until afterwards that I had seen her recently in a completely different role in another play!

Jane Warwick as Hook was excellent, by turn the dastardly villain with that deliciously wicked laugh, and on another level, another woman forced into a two-dimensional role as she is tormented by ageing and taunted by Peter’s everlasting youth.

I enjoyed Thomas Barriball’s performance as the stammering, unsuccessful pirate Martin finding his way to his true and stronger self. And hats off to the silver-tongued, sardonic portrayal of Tink by Sally Collings, just the right combo of warmth and wit.

Maisie Finn Haylock had a beautiful clarity of performance as Michael, and Jacob Blick was fantastic as John, both in timing and mannerisms.

Mark Sidey (who stepped in to cover on the night) and Hannah Bayes gave considered, emotionally nuanced and moving performances as the Darling parents.

And as Peter, Dan Tothill excelled with a rangy, agile physical performance. He really seemed lit up from the inside by belief in magic, the confidence in himself, and the optimism that Pan embodies.

Wendy and Peter Pan is on at the Sterts Theatre August 22, 23 and 24 (7.30pm) for tickets visit www.sterts.co.uk or call 01579 362382