Photo Flash: First Look at LOST BOY, Now Playing at Finborough Theatre

A stirring, controversial and unexpected opening to a year commemorating the centenary of the Great War, the world premiere of a new British musical from Phil Willmott - following the huge success of his musical Once Upon a Time at the Adelphi, in Liverpool, London and the USA -Lost Boy opens at the Finborough Theatre where it will now play for two weeks, premiering on New Year's Eve Tuesday, 31 December 2013, before moving on to Charing Cross Theatre for a further five week run, opening on Monday, 13 January 2014.

Starring Olivier Award nominee Andrew C. Wadsworth as Captain Hook.

A dark sequel to Peter Pan reuniting J. M. Barrie's characters as young adults on the eve of the First World War.

How has their extraordinary childhood equipped them for reality?

And how much does the child we were inform the adult we become?

Peter Pan was the Harry Potter of the golden age of Edwardian children's literature. Tickets to Barrie's play and copies of the book sold in huge quantities with hardly a nursery in the Empire left untouched by the phenomenon. But when those children grew to adulthood, the world they encountered was a far cry from the utopia of Never Never Land.

How did exposure to J. M. Barrie's masterpiece equip an army of frightened young men to deal with the horrors of trench warfare...and the complexities of grown up relationships?

The Culture Clash between the enchantment of childhood fantasy and real life provides a rich vein for humour and drama as this original story explores the hopes and dreams of one particular young officer on the eve of battle with a copy of Peter Pan in his pocket. As sleep begins to blur his dreams and reality, fact and fiction become entangled and he finds himself central to one final "awfully big adventure" with the grown-up Wendy, John, Michael and Tinker Bell.

Willmott's original songs - blending a contemporary music theatre style with music hall influences - have been arranged into a score with additional music by Mark Collins, Assistant Musical Director on the West End production of Billy Elliot The Musical (Victoria Palace Theatre) whose recent work in new musical theatre writing includes Dougal Irvine's The Other School (St James' Theatre for National Youth Music Theatre), Wah! Wah! Girls (Kneehigh and Sadler's Wells at Leicester Curve, Peacock Theatre, London and UK Tour) and Rifco's Britain's Got Bhangra (Theatre Royal, Stratford East and UK Tour).

Ticketing information for the Forborough Theatre: Box Office 0844 847 1652 or booking available online.

The show will run Tuesday to Saturday evenings at 7.30pm, Sunday matinees at 3.00pm, and a Saturday matinee at3pm on 11 January only.
Tickets are £16, £14 concessions, except Tuesday evenings are £14 all seats, and Friday and Saturday evenings are £16 all seats. Previews (31 December and 1 January) are £12 all seats.
£10 tickets for Under 30's for performances from Tuesday to Sunday of the first week when booked online only.
£12 tickets for residents of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on Saturday, 4 January 2014 when booked online.

Photos by Scott Rylander