Flying lost boys will battle with dastardly pirates in a dazzling recreation of the classic children’s tale Peter Pan this week.

Hundreds of children are involved in the huge production, which will be held at the Villa Marina, between Thursday and Sunday, and is staged by the Christine Wild Dance group.

The huge show requires the producers to create an extra stage to accommodate the sheer amount of people on the stage, and to bring the action closer to the crowd.

’After 40 years of teaching dancing and putting on shows, this is by far the biggest thing I have ever done,’ said producer Christine.

’We are building out a second stage in front of the one that is already there and also using half of the ballroom floor. ’This will give us a huge performance area where we can have up to 200 children on stage together. ’The audience are sitting very close to the performers and this will make the show interactive, with video screens, and we are going to use each entrance into the Royal Hall, so there will be characters appearing from all sides.

’It is very different to any show we have done before.’

Christine promises that the concert will be an action-packedshow, filled with songs and dance routines interspersed with fights between Pan, and his arch-nemesis Hook.

One of the stand out features of the play will see Pan and the Darling children take off and fly across the skies of London to Neverland.

The title role of Peter Pan will be played by Rachel Wild, who will go in battle against the cackling Hook, played by David Dawson.

The Darling children are led by Wendy, played by Jennifer Hill, with Zac Colligan and Alfie Waddell as John and Michael.

The dream role of Tinkerbell, the magical fairy who leaves a trail of magical fairy dust wherever she goes, will be played by Izzy Craig, and the roles of Smee and Tiger Lily will be played by Abby Williams and Ebony Tate.

They will be supported by the huge production and cast, which numbers around 300 young performers altogether.

’This show is something that I have been working on for more than 12 months now, and we have been in rehearsals now for the past eight months,’ said Christine.

’We are all looking forward to getting on stage and making the show come together. The children especially are very excited.’

The show takes place at 7.30pm each night between Thursday to Saturday, with matinee performances from 2.30pm between Friday to Sunday.

Tickets are £20, available from the Villa Marina box office, on 600555, the Welcome Centre, or online from villagaiety.com

The show is supported by the Isle of Man Arts Council.

by Mike Wade

twitter:@iomnewspapers