Giles Woodforde gets a sneak preview of Oxford Playhouse's summer showcase – Peter Pan in Scarlet

It’s not every day that an author is asked to write the sequel to a classic. But that’s what happened to Oxford University Press award-winning author Geraldine McCaughrean: she won an international competition to write a follow-up to J M Barrie’s immortal Peter Pan. The competition attracted nearly 200 entries.

Called Peter Pan in Scarlet, McCaughrean’s sequel has now been adapted for the stage – no surprise there, for the original Peter Pan has long been a rock-solid staple of the Christmas panto season. Theresa Heskins, artistic director of the New Vic theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme, has both adapted the book and also directs this world premiere production, which is being staged jointly by the New Vic and the Oxford Playhouse.

The Peter Pan in Scarlet storyline is set in 1929, when the Darling children, who are now adults with families of their own, are suddenly haunted by dreams of Neverland. Peter Pan desperately needs their help. They have no choice but to find their way back.

There’s bound to be a fear that any Peter Pan sequel will be a bit pallid compared with the original – after all, a crocodile has already turned the dastardly Captain Hook into a tasty snack. But worry not, book author McCaughrean has thought of this: keep an eye on Ravello (Andrew Pollard).

Furthermore, Heskins’s staging is anything but pallid. Opening with a splendidly executed 1920s flapper dance, she literally throws the theatrical book at her production. Together with choreographer Beverley Edmunds and aerial director Vicky Amedume, she makes much use of aerial silks. This involves several cast members in performing circus-style aerial acrobatics close to the theatre ceiling while hanging from fabric drapes – with no safety wires attached. It’s all down to meticulous rehearsal. Several giant playground swings are involved too, which eventually combine into a violently swaying boat – those who remember rough nights crossing the Bay of Biscay might wish to look away at this point.

Yes, at times the visual spectacle does tend to overwhelm the storyline, and reduce opportunities for individual characterisation. But the 12-strong ensemble cast of actor musicians (who also perform James Atherton’s excellent score) enthusiastically rise to each and every demand put upon them.

I should add that I saw the show in Newcastle-under-Lyme, where the audience is right up close, and all around the performers. Let’s hope that the resulting circus-like excitement can be recreated in Oxford. If it is, Peter Pan in Scarlet will indeed be a worthy opening show for the Playhouse’s new-look auditorium.

GILES WOODFORDE 5/5