Peter & Alice

Tonight I went into town to see Peter & Alice, a play by John Logan (he worked on the screenplay for Skyfall and is currently writing the next two Bond films as well as receiving heaps of awards for his play Red) at the Noel Coward Theatre.

Noel Coward Theatre
Very comfortable although I was in row S, which is a bit far back. From around row N, the stalls are beneath the circle over hang. This didn’t mean I missed anything as I could see the whole stage over the woman’s head in front of me, but it was a bit far away to really see the actors faces.

The best thing about the Noel Coward is how easy it is to get to. Exit Leicester Square tube by the Covent Garden exit, turn left, walk down the lane, walk passed the Salisbury and there it is, on the corner. Took about five minutes.

The play is a sell out so they are selling standing room tickets. These people stand in the aisle, which is a bit disconcerting.

Peter & Alice
The play concerns a meeting at a Lewis Carroll exhibition, between Alice Liddell Hargreaves (Alice in Wonderland) and Peter Llewelyn Davies (Peter Pan). Mrs Hargreaves is 80 and has just sold her original copy of Carroll’s story in order to heat her house and Peter Davies, in his 30’s is struggling to make sense of the world.

The play uses imagined characters to tell the stories of their lives and how being the ‘originators’ of such famous childhood characters had affected them. There’s Lewis Carroll, JM Barrie, Alice and Peter. There’s also Peter’s father and Alice’s husband.

These imagined characters are the shadows that have followed them throughout their lives, shaping their futures. The play explains how they coped (or not) with the fame.

The set was superb (mainly flats flown in) and gave the whole thing a sense of childhood fantasy.

I really want to say it was dreadful because Mirinda wasn’t there and had been looking forward to it as much as I have. But I can’t.

The play was one the best things I’ve ever seen. This is mainly due to the brilliant Judi Dench. She is effortlessly perfect. The way she changes from 80 to 11 is unbelievable. It’s rare that I’m utterly transported by a performance to the extent that I forget I’m in a theatre but Judi Dench did it completely. I remember seeing Michael Gambon years ago and thinking I was watching perfection in acting. Well, I have seen it again.

The rest of the cast was also superb though, if I was to be really critical, I found Ben Whishaw as Peter Llewlyn Davies a bit obvious in his characterisation.

The person I was really impressed with was Ruby Bentall (Minnie in Lark Rise to Candleford) who was a fantastic Alice in Wonderland. When she entered through a trapdoor (a rabbit hole in the middle of the stage) it was as if Alice had suddenly become real. She looked perfect. Likewise, Olly Alexander as Peter Pan was playfully and innocently excellent.

Derek Riddell (James M Barrie) and Nicholas Farrell (Lewis Carroll) were also convincing. And the audience absolutely loved Stefano Braschi as Reggie Hargreaves.

All round superb and fully deserves to be sold out.

And, for Mirinda, here’s a few bluebells.