Review: NEVERLAND, VAULT Festival

Peter Pan is a story that the majority of us will know and love. It's a tale of a boy who never grew up, and instead lived the rest of his days in Neverland leading the fearless Lost Boys. Following their 2017 hit with The Great Gatsby, The Guild of Misrule return to the VAULTs with Neverland.

In the marketing it's penned as a chance to "rediscover your lost child", however in Alexander Wright's production there isn't much chance to do that (unless the creator assume that climbing through a bunk bed to access the space is all that's needed). The exposition takes too long, and half of it is missed due to most of the performers speech being inaudible.

The production lacks a spark, and there seems to be little to no stage presence from the majority of the cast. Maybe this was down to opening night jitters, however their coyness appears as fear, resulting in an awkward watch.

Unfortunately the themes of bravery and exploratory play get lost almost immediately, and Guild of Misrule's production quickly becomes a convoluted mess that is incredibly difficult to understand. Dramaturgically it's way off the mark, and at best it is a mind map of brave ideas lacking correlation.

The problem lies in the fact that there is no unifying narrative that holds the entire piece together. Being led off on an individual escapade is a lot of fun, however when you return to the group you have no idea where you are in the plotline, making it near impossible to keep up.

The design is strong, but doesn't seem that imaginative. Whilst the detail is there, it is obvious that a pirate's tree house would be needed for Hook to retreat to. However, even the set is impractical and awkward to move around. Too many times the performers have to apologise to the audience for nearly running over then with a bed.

The only beacon of hope contained within is Simran Hunjun's characterisation of Hook. As a boisterous, crude and unwelcoming fiend, Hunjun's mocks her chosen followers, cussing them out for picking poor pirate names and laughing at their pathetic childhood memories. She is highly reactive in her improvisation, and her blunt sarcasm makes for many enjoyable interactions.

It's unfortunate that the piece's structure wasn't more similar to that of Punchdrunk's (where you can always follow individual performers). If this were to be the case, I would have always followed Hunjun, because being left in the pit to have to listen to half-hearted, toneless singing quickly become too painful to endure.

Disappointingly, this would have ended up being a lot of audience's experience, and that's simply not good enough. If this is one of the shows chosen to headline the VAULT Fest, then what does it say about the rest of the programming? NeverLand is a tremendous let down that feels more like a university am-dram production, and lacks much of the finesse quality that we've come to expect from Guild of Misrule.

This was the first offering that I saw at this years festival and let's just say that I left feeling not only disappointed, but incredibly frustrated that another emerging performer's application had been rejected on account of this.

NeverLand at the VAULT Festival until 18 March

Photo credit: Guild of Misrule

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