Gate Theatre delays Peter Pan opening night

The Gate Theatre postponed Saturday’s planned premiere of Peter Pan, a new version by Roddy Doyle, because of its “very intricate and technical nature”, and moved the opening night to this Thursday.

Peter Pan is “one of the most ambitious shows ever seen on the Gate stage”, a spokesman for the Gate said on Monday, “with a large cast, special effects, exciting scene transitions, and even a walking dog. As can often be the case with a new work of this scale, we took the decision of a small postponement of the opening night ... and to schedule more previews to allow the company to maximise the potential of the show.”

Postponing an opening night is unusual, but the production is up and running – it has been previewing since November 4th – and public and schools performances continue this week. The show runs for the Christmas season, into the new year.

Doyle, the best-selling author of The Snapper and The Van, has taken JM Barrie’s classic story of the boy who wouldn’t grow up, in which the Darling children, Wendy, Michael and John, are whisked away to Never Land by Peter Pan and Tinker Bell, and set his new version in early 20th-century Dublin rather than Edwardian London.

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[ ‘It’s radically different’: Behind the scenes of Roddy Doyle’s Dublin Peter Pan ]

Some may speculate that shows with flying children are always likely to be fraught with difficulty, but the Gate spokesman was tight-lipped about the production’s specific technical aspects. This production, directed by Ned Bennett, involves a lot of movement and transitions, entrances and exits, and the team wanted more rehearsal and technical time to fine-tune the last technical elements, he said.

A clue to the challenges is in the show’s creative credits, which also include movement director Jonah McGreevy, puppet director Sarah Mardel, puppet designer Caroline Bowman and a team of puppet-makers, plus a large crew of dressers and stage, lighting and sound technicians. The theatre also advises that Peter Pan contains “haze, enclosed spaces, flashing lights, strobe lighting and sudden loud noises”.