Our Christmas just wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the festive pantomime, and this year was no exception. We have just got back from watching the Mayflowers very own panto, Peter Pan, and what a treat it was.

It was always a childhood Christmas tradition of mine to be taken to the Mayflower each year with my Grandma & Papa and other family members to watch the fabulous shows put on, and I can still remember that feeling of pure excitement you got, entering the grand theatre dressed in your smartest outfit, and that moment where you’re greeted by the sight of the spectacular stage in all its glory! Then when everyone is finally settled, the loud music booms around the auditorium, causing goosebumps of joy, and from then until the first interval at least, the audience are held captivated in the magic that is the Christmas panto!

As with a lot of childhood traditions though, unfortunately our yearly trips to the pantomime slowly dwindled, and were suddenly replaced with annual nights out drinking with friends to celebrate the festive season instead. Luckily though, things have a funny way of coming full circle, and of course now I have my own little family, that favourite pastime has returned and has been firmly instilled in our own Christmas traditions, and I hope will remain so for many years to come.

So anyway, this years trip to the Mayflower was courtesy of our Elf On The Shelf Sprout (He always goes a bit mad with presents and surprises during the holiday season!! Read more about Sprout here!) And so when Finley woke up in the morning to search for his buddy, he was greeted by the sight of Sprout, armed with his very own hook and a note which explained the surprise. Finley was super excited, and couldn’t wait for this show, and neither could we.

So off we went after dinner (and way past Finleys bedtime, especially on a school night) all dressed in our smartest…Christmas jumpers, and we picked up our tickets from the box office, before being shown to our seats, and I tell you something, as soon as I spotted that stage, I had exactly the same feeling I did when I came as a child! The theatre is definitely my happy place!

The Mayflower has recently been refurbished and it is absolutely beautiful, and our seats in the stalls, row M had the perfect view of the stage, with the seats on an incline and luckily no oversized heads or wacky hairdos blocking our view.

Well what can I say?! Peter Pan is absolutely phenomenal, I mean we’ve been to pantos at some smaller theatres over the past couple of years, but the Mayflower is seriously on a whole other level. Peter Pan was like a comedy show and a West End musical all rolled into one, with circus acts thrown in for good measure too.

The sets were stunning, and the effects were bloody brilliant, with Finley literally cowering in his seat when the ginormous crocodile came snapping away into the audience itself!

The cast were absolutely superb, with amazing riff-tastic singing voices that filled the entire theatre!

I must say Darren Day is blooming hilarious,

and as for Marti pellow, well he just looks hotter the older he gets!

Then there’s the Grumbleweeds, these 2 were so unbelievably funny, with adult jokes aplenty (that fortunately went over the kids heads a lot of the time) that had us and the rest of the audience in fits of hysterics a lot of the time, with the roller skate scene being the funniest yet (No Spoilers, just go watch!!)

And the best bit of all, of course had to be the fact that Peter Pan actually flew…well with the help of strings, which obviously Finley pointed out (can’t get much past this 6 year old!!) but it didn’t stop him being amazed firing these scenes all the same

All in all we had a brilliant time at the Mayflower, and can’t recommend Peter Pan enough. This is well worth the visit and you will not be disappointed!

Book your tickets here, and go fly to Neverland….second star to the right and straight on till morning.

“Come with me where dreams are born and time is never planned” ~ Peter Pan

Much Love,

2 Birds 1 Love

Xxx