Peter Pan

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Photographs generously provided by Catherine Ashmore and the National Theatre Archive.

This was the final National Theatre revival of the original RSC version of J. M. Barrie’s source material.  It opened at the Olivier auditorium of the National Theatre on 17th December 1998 and played throughout the Christmas season. The RSC version is published by DPS in New York. The NT version was published by Methuen in England.

The Adapters and Directors were greatly indebted to Andrew Birkin, the world authority on Peter Pan, for his invaluable help with the text.

The Version

This production was the first time the part of Peter had ever been played by a male actor - the other children’s roles all being played by adults. Up until then the part had always been played by an adult actress with the other children’s roles being played by a mix of adults and children. Thus one of the greatest dramatic love stories ever written had degenerated into a grim annual pantomime, so far from Barrie’s original intention he would have wept to see it.

For a full account of the way the adaptation was made, please refer to the essay in one of the published versions.