With the countdown to Christmas well and truly on, nothing quite says Christmas more than drag! For the last few years I have headed to a festive drag offering and this year was no different. This years offering came in the form of Peter Pan, by Tuckshop but this was Peter Pan with a difference!

Whilst the premise of the show follows the one we all know and love with Peter Pan whisking the Darling Children off to Neverland and a battle with Hook ensues but this is where the similarities end, Peter Pan is a horny lad trying to sleep with Wendy (consensually of course) and fairy dust is something sniffed rather than sprinkled! The changes to the story were fun and certainty got a lot of laughs out of the audience.

Gracing the stage was a huge amount of drag royalty, not only from RuPaul’s drag race but shows such as Drag Drop and more. Taking the role of Wendy Darling was Kitty Scott-Claus who I couldn’t keep my eyes off. Not only did her look have a huge nod to the Wendy blue dress we are all familiar with but she made it her own and looked immaculate in doing so. She perfectly pitched Wendy’s innocence with filthy bed time stories and her physical comedy and reactions really heightened the comedy on stage. Playing her brothers was Kate Butch and Cheryl (fka Cheryl Hole) and they were immensely likeable and willing to thrown themselves into the silliest of scenes.

Joining them was Ophelia Love who normally plays Villager number 3 but for press night she was also in the role of Tinkerbell. She certainty put her own stamp on the role and was more than happy to be the butt of the jokes, all whilst demonstrating that her talent was far from the butt of the jokes. Ginger Johnson took on the role of Captain Hook in a dazzling hook costume perfect for a drag pantomime and Drag King Richard Energy was Peter Pan(sexual) who bounced around the stage with bundles of energy and loads of swagger.

The song choice was varied, opening with Our House and swiftly moving onto Chappell Roan as well as panto classics and the 3 ensemble dancers were used to great hilarity throughout these numbers. Other classic moments such as the flying sequence were brilliantly dealt with and wonderful to see how the imagination came out to play in this production.

Despite the talent on stage, the show did lack some polish, although admittedly at times this did heighten the comedy. Dance routines seemed under rehearsed and numbers such as ‘If I Were Not Upon The Stage,’ which relies on precise physicality and timing fell flat at points. Equally many of the other scripted moments felt improvised, some successfully, other moments less so. The set also echoed this lack of polish which was essentially a series of flats on wheels although the cast were happy to point this out and mock it themselves.

Equally it wasn’t just the script or set that lacked polish, the sound mix meant that during some moments I really struggled to hear the performers over the tracks and this also meant that many punch lines were missed. With a pantomime being performed in the heart of the West End there is a certain expectation that comes with it that this show failed to live up to.

Peter Pan was outrageously camp with a plethora of talented Queens on stage and whilst it lacked polish in many ways there was never a dull moment and provided a lot of festive laughter.

Peter Pan is on at the Phoenix Theatre until the 6th January with performances on the 16th, 23rd, 24th December and the 6th January. You can find out more here.

If you like this review you might also like my review of Jack and the Beanstalk. What A Whopper!