Forever Young: Neverland Comes To London
After a two-year gap year break, Shuttlecock Inc, the creatives behind “Mile High” and “Rubble at the Deli”, brought a new immersive production to London last month. Themed around a grown up version of Neverland, the NTV Spring Break extravaganza opened to Londoners for three days at the Park Village Studios near Regent’s Park.
It was an unusually hot evening nearing the end of April so my friend and I took a stroll through Regent’s Park to make the most of the rare but very welcome weather. The park was filled with happy sun-seekers as far as the eye could see.
We arrived at the Park Village Studios and after a short wait we were ushered inside the front room of the “Darling’s House”. As we entered the room we were greeted by Mr and Mrs Darling, the parents of Wendy, John and Michael.
From that point on, everyone inside the house, excepting us guests, was in character, which made the whole experience feel very immersive and quite surreal.
One of the Darling family’s maids was standing by the door offering us a welcome drink, looking rather unhappy (all part of her character of course!). And after a while of sitting and chatting and snacking on a bowl of Hula Hoops that was passed around, we were allowed to move beyond the sitting room and enter the much-anticipated Neverland.
A far cry from the Victorian charm that we left behind, we suddenly found ourselves in a buzzy marketplace and strangely, in a 90s music video slash spring break party re-enactment. I know, hard to imagine really.
The Tinkerbell’s Bar was manned by tattooed fairies, serving drinks such as Fukk’n Intense Dark’n’Stormies and Barrel-aged Monkey Shoulder Boulevardier, both of which we tried and enjoyed. The Lost Boys took care of the food, offering an array of tacos, cheese brioche toasties, chicken wings as well as churros.
The music was blasting old school hip-hop, dancers kept appearing on the dance floor and a TV presenter persistently tried to recruit dancers for his next music video. As one journalist wandered around with a microphone interviewing unassuming guests it really felt like we were in some kind of reality TV show.
There was lot to explore and seeking a quieter spot, we headed through a dark corridor to the Neverland Camp. The room was decked out with another bar, as well as a few teepees, a head massage area, inflatable mushrooms and floating jellyfish.
Back in the main room, a very narrow metal stairs led to a large playroom upstairs. Some guests sat around and enjoyed their drinks, some played Twister or a game of cards.
Everyone involved in making the evening into what it was looked the part, oozed enthusiasm and dedication, and it was evident that a lot of thought, commitment and passion went into the production.
We had to say goodbye, we had to go away, but we won’t forget. And for one night, we really did feel like we’d never grow up.
- For more information on Shuttlecock Inc and their immersive events, see shuttlecock-inc.com
