The first of the three shows that we will be seeing was "Peter and Alice", which is playing at the Noel Coward Theater. It star Judi Dench as Alice and Ben Whishaw as Peter. The premise is the (actual) meeting between Alice Liddell Hagreaves (the inspiration for "Alice in Wonderland") and Peter Llewelyn Davies, (the inspiration for "Peter Pan") during their brief encounter at a Lewis Carroll exhibition in 1932.
I have to admit that of the three shows we'll be seeing this week, this was the one that I was most excited about. I already have a huge love and interest in Alice in Wonderland, and have read quite a lot about the life of Alice Liddell and her relationship with Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll). I didn't know much about Peter Pan and it's history, though I did see the movie, "Neverland" which told a fictionalized version of the story of how Peter Pan came to be.
Well, the show did not disappoint. It was 90-minutes long, without intermission, which I always think is "just right" for a live performance. :)
It was really fantastic, and exceeded all my expectations. The story was really great, and they did a wonderful job of weaving the two main characters (Alice, in her 80s, and Peter, who I would guess is in his 30s) with the two authors, as well as the two characters of Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. The entire cast was really extraordinary, as was the set and design.
What a treat it was to see this production in its first run, with this cast. I really loved it, and would highly recommend it if you happen to be able to catch it during it's short 6-week run.
As an interesting side note, Judi Dench and Ben Wishaw most recently worked together on the latest James Bond movie, "Skyfall". The screenplay for that movie was written by John Logan, who was the writer of "Peter and Alice".
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