Alan Wooding reviews Milton Keynes Theatre's glittering 25th anniversary pantomime starring Strictly Come Dancing's Craig Revel Horwood  

Milton Keynes Theatre has again come up trumps with its annual Christmas pantomime, the high-flying Peter Pan cast being fully deserving of last night’s standing ovation.

     Starring long time Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood as the dastardly Captain James Hook, he certainly knew how to lift the audience and to really act on all those traditional boos and hisses… but who realised that this talented dancer and choreographer could also sing? 

     Heading up the ensemble in several musical numbers, Revel Horwood certainly threw himself into the part of Hook and together with the help of his right hand crewman Smee (Max Fulham), he led a traditional and hilarious slapstick routine in that If I Were Not Upon The Stage number which also included two Darling children, Wendy and John played by Evelyn Hoskins and Adam Pinnock.

     There are fine performances from Ross Carpenter as the ever youthful Peter Pan who flies around Neverland on a wire while the lovely Zara MacIntosh is the show’s glitzy fairy Tink, the pair excelling in their vocals. 

     However it's Max Fulham who really steals the show with his brilliant ventriloquist act featuring Gordon, his cheeky chimpanzee puppet sidekick. Picking on an unsuspecting audience member early in the pantomime (Peter the postman on this occasion), he quickly became the butt of so many jokes and was even persuaded to go up on stage to blow a kazoo as the audience happily pretended to play their trombones! 

     While the pantomime is loosely based around J M Barrie’s original story in which the Darling children – Wendy, John and Michael (Oli Manning being one of three alternate youngsters playing the junior part) – they leave their dog Nana behind before they fly off to Neverland guided by Peter only to be taken prisoner by Hook's henchmen.

     We meet a monster crocodile which heads out towards the audience and it certainly shocked some of the younger members of the audience in the first few rows of the stalls. Sadly that was the only time we actually got to see the massive reptile while I was half hoping that it 

would swallow Captain Hook and not just a large alarm clock!

     While exciting gymnastic routines are usually confined to gymnasiums, it was a touch of genius inviting The Acromaniacs into the show. The four strong team of Richard Cadle, Jamie Lakin, John Mortimore and Alfie Nugent dazzled with a flamboyant acrobatic routine when using a mini trampet and large crash mat. Meanwhile they also doubled as Hook's crew or as Neverland’s Lost Boys when joining eight members of a talented Ensemble.

     As we’ve come to expect, the glittering costumes, clever lighting and scenery are quite magnificent although nowadays that’s to be expected from the region's top theatre. It was also fitting that Peter Pan was the very first pantomime staged at Milton Keynes Theatre when it opened some 25 years ago.

     Peter Pan runs until Sunday 5 January with tickets starting at £13 online at ATGTICKETS.COM/MiltonKeynes