Stratford Festival Reviews

This production, starring Tom McCamus in the dual roles of Captain Hook and playwright J.M. Barrie, is the best I've ever seen, right down to the wag of the Nana-the-dog's tale. The Pirates include noted comedian Sean Cullen, as the tender-hearted Smee, and Montrealer Quincy Armorer, in battered top hat. ...

"...don't assume that the Stratford Festival's sterling revival of the beloved J.M. Barrie classic is just for the junior brigade...this Peter Pan may cause members to gasp, even possibly to shed some tears, but it also makes them laugh...Sean Cullen is a swivelling delight as Hook's trusted henchman, Smee."

"Carroll’s production also serves as a reminder to a festival that of late has been obsessed with incorporating modern stage technology into the classics, that there’s still a lot of magic left in an old bag of tricks...'Theatre has been doing 3D for centuries.'"

"with... Tom McCamus playing Barrie... you get the kind of depth that makes you realize why this work is such a true classic...Paul Dunn is the finest John I’ve ever seen, finding levels of complex rivalry and regret inside a character most actors (and directors) treat as a throwaway." 4/4 ...

"Thanks to designer Carolyn M. Smith and lighting designer Kevin Fraser, there are twinkling stars, gently falling snow, glittering soap bubbles and a full moon that hangs in the night sky like a white balloon illumined from the inside."

"Therriault gives his most physically impressive performance since he crawled down from the ceiling as Gollum in...The Lord of the Rings. Even when he's not attached to a wire, he seems capable of flight...balancing on bed posts and swinging from door frames." 3/4 Stars