Part of the West End will be transformed into Neverland when leading accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers - whose staff have been rehearsing since September - takes its seasonal show to the Peacock Theatre, Kingsway, for five nights from Jan. 22, 2002.
More than 4,000 children from 18 inner-London schools and 18 charities will get to see the show for free, and the experience includes travel to and from the venue, a goody bag and copies of a book to accompany the performance, all sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
For the youngsters, the learning doesn't stop at the show, as they are actively encouraged to write stories and draw pictures of their panto experiences, which will be posted on the Peter Pan website - www.pwcglobal.com/panto. Teachers from all the participating schools have also been invited into PricewaterhouseCoopers to learn web development skills to apply in the classroom.
The panto will also be broadcast by satellite to children at ten major London hospitals. With a total audience exceeding 7,500 across 7 performances, the event has come a long way since it started in one of the firm's canteens.
—by Theatrenow