John Logan’s new 90 minute play Peter & Alice, directed by Michael Grandage features stellar performances from Dame Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw, who were last seen on screen together in the latest James Bond movie Skyfall. A rather different proposition than the action packed spy movie, Peter & Alice tells the tale of the real life people who inspired the characters of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and JM Barrie’s Peter Pan. The two people met, in real life in a bookshop in 1932, though much of the play’s narrative is imagined.

Dench is praised by The Guardian, for her “ability to combine ecstasy and melancholy, witnessed in abundance here” and her “features flicker between delight and regret at the thought of opportunities missed.” Similiarly, Whishaw is received a positive response from the paper’s reviewer, who rearks that his performance is “equally memorable,” adding “There is a haggard intensity about his straggle-bearded features that tell you, from the first second when you see him uneasily prowling the London bookshop, that he is a man marked for tragedy.” The Telegraph reviews reveals that both Whishaw and Dench “give beautiful, heart-catching performances in this haunting play that sounds profound notes of loss and grief.

It’s not all good news for Whishaw though, who is described by the Daily Mail as being “so irredeemably wet he could do with sponging.” 

Judi Dench
Judi Dench stars in Peter & Alice, which has received largely positive reviews 

Ben Whishaw
Ben Whishaw takes the stage with his Skyfall co-star Judi Dench, in Peter & Alice. Pictured here in London.