Adam McKenzie Wylie is the CEO of Histrionic Productions which has just announced The Peter Rabbit™ Easter Adventure, adapted by Calum Finlay, in the heart of London’s iconic Covent Garden Piazza this Easter from 21 March – 16 April.
Through a captivating mix of live performance and puppetry, visitors will be transported back to a Covent Garden of old, teeming with fresh flowers, fruit and vegetables as Beatrix Potter heads out on a mission to rescue Jemima Puddle-Duck from the clutches of Mr. McGregor.
During this brand-new 50-minute interactive outdoor adventure, families will experience Peter Rabbit’s adventures in person as they accompany Beatrix Potter to search for secret notes, maps, and other clues and meet Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, and a few surprise encounters along the way.
The perfect Easter gift, tickets are on sale from www.PeterRabbitEasterAdventure.com.
You’re bringing The Peter Rabbit™ Easter Adventure to Covent Garden Piazza, what can you tell us about the experience?
After our hugely successful Peter Rabbit Garden Adventure held in the Blenheim Palace walled garden last summer, it was a natural step to find a remarkable, relevant, urban location to stage an Easter Adventure – a fruit and veg market!
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Narratively, it was all about making sense of the characters within the setting of Covent Garden. Once we had decided that the dastardly Mr McGregor had kidnapped Jemima Puddle-Duck to make a quick buck in the Easter market, it made sense that the rest of Beatrix Potter’s characters would come to her rescue – Jeremy Fisher, Benjamin Bunny, Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, Squirrel Nutkin and Peter Rabbit all make an appearance. We’re working closely with Penguin to make sure that the characters are staying true to the books whilst embracing the contemporary world at Covent Garden.
What did you learn from last year’s Garden Adventure at Blenheim to help shape this year’s adventure?
We’ve got more story; more characters; more action! I think what we learned last summer is that young people, when presented with an intimate theatrical adventure in which their participation is essential to the story’s conclusion, really enjoy fully immersing themselves in the world. I’ll always remember one 7-year-old, as he fled from Mr McGregor, declaring: “It’s like being in a movie!”.
Alongside the live performance, what other experiences can we expect?
The show is the linchpin and the main event of course, but working with partner CAPCO we have commandeered various corners of the Covent Garden estate to extend the thematic experience beyond the theatrical. There’s an opportunity for our young visitors learn to drive around Mr McGregor’s obstacle course and an ‘Activity Burrow’ for creative crafting, as well as a Peter Rabbit reading corner.
We have also created a Peter Rabbit themed café and an Easter Adventure shop selling official Peter Rabbit merchandise and Easter treats. So we can provide a really full, family morning or afternoon out in the heart of Covent Garden.
Why do you think both the characters and this kind of immersive experience remain so popular?
We’d like to think we are breaking new territory with the formats of our family theatrical experiences but the characters are enduringly popular perhaps because they’re not perfect. Peter Rabbit, for example, is kind and well-meaning but he’s also naive and greedy – and it gets him into all sorts of mischief! I’m sure those imperfections are reassuring for young people – and, on a simple level, inner conflicts make for great stories.
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking for The Peter Rabbit™ Easter Adventure?
Don’t just bring the children, bring the grandparents too – it’s a cross-generational, delightful Easter treat.
