THE magic of Peter Pan is coming to a stage in Atherton next week.

The New Garrett Theatre (NGT) pantomime will be performed at Atherton Community School for four consecutive days, from Wednesday to Saturday, January 11 to 14.

The decision by the 22-year-old theatre company to pick the famous tale for its annual panto is one that NGT publicity committee member Adele Taylor thinks will be justified once the spotlight is tuned on.

Adele said: “Everyone I have spoken to about it so far has been really excited that we are doing Peter Pan because it is not one that is usually tackled because it is such a big production.

“We are doing it this year because we have wanted to do it for a while, with it being such a classic, and it is a new adventure for us working on a traditional story.”

NGT previously held its shows at Formby Hall in Atherton but was forced to look elsewhere when the venue was closed down last year.

The panto will be the third production that it has staged at the school and Adele believes the venue has provided a perfect platform to keep audiences hooked.

She said: “Moving to Atherton Community School has really strengthened us – the venue is brilliant.

“It is a much bigger stage than we were used to so we are able to do shows that we were not able to do in the past.

“Worked together with Atherton is great.

"We have new equipment to help with the shows too.”

NGT has enlisted the support of member Ryan Gerrard, a London College of Music acting student who has been working with the actors playing Peter Pan and Hook.

Adele says his involvement and experience is proving to be invaluable in developing stage combat and making action scenes more realistic for spectators.

Jessica Smith has learnt how to roller skate for her role as Tinker Bell and has been using her dance background to choreograph the dance scenes in the show.

Adele said: “There is a lot of commitment from everyone involved.

"We all do it for fun and to put on a good show for the people of Atherton.

“It is lovely. We have quite a lot of families doing our shows together – we are like one big family.”

Of the 34-strong cast for Peter Pan, an increased number of younger actors are involved, which Adele hopes will see a new generation of performers working with the theatre company.

Atherton councillor Jamie Hodgkinson has been helping with the set and was involved with the audition panel.

As well as four evening shows all starting at 7.15pm, there will be a matinee performance next Saturday, January 14, which has sold out.

Tickets are £8 for adults, £6 for children and concessions and £22 for families (two adults and two children).

All admissions include pasties and a selected drink.

To buy tickets call 07927 760072 or e-mail info@tngt.co.uk.