WITH fireworks, crocodiles, huge spiders and a talented cast, Peter Pan at Darlington Civic, floated the family entertainment boat with a great, swashbuckling night out for all the family.

Veteran comedian Bobby Davro, playing pirate Smee, headlined and ensured there was a lot of laughs for both old and young.

The title role was well played by Lloyd Warbey, from Disney TV’s Art Attack, and Tracy Beaker’s Dani Harmer was convincing as the bossy Wendy Darling.

The excellent graphics made it look as though characters were flying above London’s rooftops to get to Neverland, with the help of Tinkerbell, a waft of pixie dust and shouts of encouragement from the audience.

The well-loved plot included an appearance by Tiger Lily (Rachel Grundy), and her tribe of indians and The Lost Boys, who were all talented dancers.

The choreography was well thought-out and, at one point, there were acrobats on either side of the stage and the ship’s crew doing some backflips.

However, it was Davro’s Smee, alongside Andrew Fleming as the villainous Captain Hook and Darragh Mortell as pirate Starkey, who stole the show.

They interacted with the audience, pulling people onstage to turn them into pirates, sprayed the audience with water and provided plenty of innuendoes to keep the parents entertained.

The cheesy one-liners and slapstick comedy kept coming, but it was all good fun and gave the performance an overload of energy and humour… and an enjoyable Easter pantomime for all ages.

Amy Ryan