Birmingham Rep is heading for Neverland this Christmas, and apparently it intends to get there properly.
The theatre has announced the full cast for its new production of Peter Pan, running in The House from 18 November 2026 until 17 January 2027, and there is something rather intriguing going on beneath all the fairy dust.
Yes, Peter is flying. Yes, Captain Hook is lurking. Tinker Bell is present and correct, the Lost Boys are causing trouble, and somewhere a crocodile is presumably approaching with absolutely dreadful intentions.
But this isn’t simply Birmingham Rep dusting down a familiar festive title and hoping nobody notices.
Phil Porter has created a new adaptation of J M Barrie’s story, Ruth Chan has written more than 20 original songs, and Artistic Director Joe Murphy is taking the production back to the late Victorian and Edwardian world from which Peter Pan originally emerged.
Which means I am immediately interested.
There is something slightly peculiar about Peter Pan when you stop treating it as a Christmas adventure and actually think about it. It is a story about children who don’t want bedtime, don’t particularly want school, certainly don’t want rules and, in Peter’s case, have decided that growing up sounds so dreadful they simply won’t bother.
Frankly, there are adults who have been attempting the same thing for years, although most of them have not managed the flying.
At Birmingham Rep, Iverson Yabut will take on Peter Pan, returning to the theatre following A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story. His other credits include Aladdin for Evolution Productions, Chariots of Fire and Miss Saigon at Sheffield Crucible, Pacific Overtures at Menier Chocolate Factory and George Takei’s Allegiance at Charing Cross Theatre.
His screen work includes Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps and the forthcoming Mutiny.
But one of the most interesting choices in this production might be what Birmingham Rep is doing with Wendy.
Amber Sylvia Edwards plays Wendy Darling, and Murphy has spoken particularly about the character’s strength and her own coming-of-age journey.
That matters because Peter Pan can very easily become exactly what the title suggests: Peter’s story, with Wendy brought along to admire the adventure, tidy everybody up and eventually decide that perhaps home wasn’t so bad after all.
This production appears to be giving her rather more to do.
The Rep describes Wendy as trying to keep the children safe while Hook and the crocodile close in, eventually having to find the courage to grow up “on her own terms”.
Now that is a phrase I like.
Peter may be the boy who refuses to grow up, but perhaps the more interesting person is the girl who discovers that growing up does not necessarily mean surrendering imagination, bravery or independence.
Amber Sylvia Edwards arrives in Birmingham with credits including The Tempest and Macbeth for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Wild Rose at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh, The Good John Proctor at Jermyn Street Theatre, Tina at the Aldwych Theatre, Orphans for National Theatre of Scotland and Dirty Dancing on tour.
Meanwhile, Hannah McPake has been handed the splendid double task of playing both Captain Hook and Mrs Darling.
That immediately makes my theatrical nose twitch.
There is a lovely old tradition surrounding Peter Pan of performers doubling roles, most famously Mr Darling and Captain Hook, so putting Hook and Mrs Darling together creates a rather different relationship between home and Neverland.
Whether Birmingham Rep intends us to read anything particularly deep into that I shall leave entirely to them.
I am merely an observer with a satchel.
McPake previously appeared at Birmingham Rep in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and has an extensive list of credits including Nye at the National Theatre, Hamnet with the RSC and in the West End, Romeo and Juliet and The Knight of the Burning Pestle at Shakespeare’s Globe, along with productions for Sherman Theatre, Wild Works and National Theatre Wales.
Television appearances include Casualty, Trollied and Skins.
Emmy Stonelake plays Tinker Bell, returning to Birmingham Rep after Sweet Henry V. Their theatre credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the RSC and Unicorn Theatre, Beauty and the Beast at Storyhouse, Twelfth Night at Shakespeare’s Globe, The Fair Maid of the West with the RSC and the UK tour of Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort Of).
And then there is the rest of Neverland.
Jack Benjamin plays Mr Darling and Skylights, Maddie Hansen is Curly, Matthew James Hinchliffe plays Jukes, James Ifan is Tootles, Jordan Laviniere plays Michael Darling, Jacob Leeson is Slightly, Lara Lewis is Nibs, Elijah Millar plays John Darling and Susannah Van Den Berg takes on Smee.
So far, reassuringly Neverland-ish.
Joe Murphy directs following his Birmingham Rep production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and he seems determined to make this a sizeable piece of festive theatre rather than merely a straightforward retelling.
Most importantly, Murphy has confirmed that there will be flying.
“Genuine flying,” in fact.
I enjoyed the insistence on genuine.
None of your metaphorical flying here. Nobody is standing on a box while someone waves a cloud past them and asks us to use our imagination.
Peter Pan is going up.
There will also be more than 20 original songs written by composer Ruth Chan with Phil Porter, giving this Peter Pan a significant new musical element.
Murphy says the songs should bring “a smile and maybe a tear” to audiences of all ages, while describing Porter’s adaptation as containing everything audiences might want from the story.
And Birmingham Rep certainly seems to be throwing considerable creative weight behind it.
Hayley Grindle designs the sets and costumes, Christopher Mundy provides musical supervision and orchestrations, Zoe Spurr handles lighting, Nick Lodge designs sound and Sarah Golding is choreographer and movement director.
Kev McCurdy is fight director, Helena Palmer CDG handles casting, Josh Sood is musical director and Alexandra Whiteley is assistant director.
There is also Jo Lakin on puppetry design.
Puppetry.
And there is a crocodile.
I am joining those dots entirely by myself and Birmingham Rep cannot be held responsible for anything currently happening inside my head.
The creative team is completed by Jill Molyneux as props supervisor and Phoebe Bath as production manager.
For Murphy, though, there is another reason this production matters.
Christmas productions are often the first encounter children have with live theatre.
That sometimes gets forgotten when the industry discusses festive programming as if it were simply a reliable annual box-office fixture.
Somewhere in the audience of Peter Pan this winter will almost certainly be a seven-year-old who has never seen scenery transform in front of them, never heard actors singing live, never watched a theatre suddenly become dark and silent, and never seen somebody apparently leave the ground and fly over their head.
That is a fairly substantial responsibility.
Get it right and you don’t merely give them an enjoyable Christmas afternoon.
You might create a theatre-goer.
And I rather like that Birmingham Rep seems to understand it.
There is a familiar Peter Pan waiting underneath all this, of course: the Darling nursery, the unexpected visitor, the flight over moonlit streets, Neverland, mermaids, imaginary feasts, Lost Boys, pirates, Hook and that steadily approaching ticking crocodile.
But the promise of a period setting, an original score and a stronger coming-of-age story for Wendy suggests Birmingham Rep is trying to find the slightly stranger heart of Barrie’s story too.
A tale where one child desperately refuses to grow up while another discovers she can.
Which is all rather moving.
Although, as a postie, I do have one practical concern.
If people start flying directly out of bedroom windows, somebody needs to tell me where I am supposed to leave the Christmas parcels.
Peter Pan runs at Birmingham Rep from 18 November 2026 to 17 January 2027 and is recommended for ages seven and above.
To book simply visit Birmingham Rep at birmingham-rep.co.uk or call the Box Office on 0121 236 4455 (Monday to Friday from 12pm to 6pm. Saturdays 12pm to 6pm, or 4pm if there is no evening performance scheduled).
P”Peter Pan” is presented by arrangement with Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of Samuel French Ltd. www.concordtheatricals.co.uk
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