The Pan pipes used by Pauline Chase as Peter Pan at the Duke of York's Theatre. Pauline took the role of Peter in the 1906-1907 revival and played it for eight seasons.
Making sure she had enough fairy dust, Lucy Jane Tetlow flew out the window and made for the Theatre Museum to see a tribute to an enduring childhood hero.
Peter Pan is big news at the moment. Not only is the original play by J. M Barrie one hundred years old this month, but there is a major film, a search for a sequel and this display.
Wax figure of Jean Forbes-Robertson as Peter Pan by Gwendolen Parnell, 1930. Forbes-Robertson first played Peter in the 1927-1928 season and took the role for a record-breaking nine seasons in total.
The Theatre Museum has combined forces with Action for Children’s Arts and Great Ormond Street to celebrate this important anniversary.
The display, at the Covent Garden-based museum, opened on November 30 and will run until March 13 2005.
It features 100 photographs of a range of productions of Peter Pan put on since its opening in 1904 and charts the visual history of this extraordinary play.
Flying harness designed by master stage carpenter George Kirby and used in the original production of Peter Pan at the Duke of York's Theatre, 1904.
Objects on show include the costume worn by Pauline Chase, one of the first actresses to play Peter, and an Edwardian flying harness, which helped create the effects that have made the play so magical for generations of children.
There is no getting away from the fact that this is a tiny display, only one case in the foyer, but if you haven’t been to the Theatre Museum before then this should serve as a good reason to go and will give you enough time to explore the rest of this fascinating museum.
All images courtesy of the Theatre Museum, Covent Garden.
