PETER Pan is loved all over the world and Theatre by the Lake is hoping he’ll prove equally charming to Keswick audiences, when its stage production of JM Barrie’s story opens on Saturday (November 29).

When the show was first produced in 1904, the high flying hero was soon inundated with fan mail from children who watched spellbound as he flew across the stage to the magical Neverland.

And apparently, Peter, Wendy, John and Michael will also be flying in Keswick – with a little high-tech assistance.

Many of the children who wrote to Peter after those early shows wanted to fly too – and actually asked for lessons. One young girl called Phyllis wrote, “Dear Peter Pan, will you please take me to never, never land but bring me back in time for brekfist.”

The letters and many others were collected and published by Pauline Chase, who played Peter Pan in London every year from 1906 to 1913. These days, the letters are in the archive of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. JM Barrie donated the copyright of Peter Pan to the hospital in 1929. The charity has since received a portion of the money from every production of the story, including the upcoming Keswick version. The House of Lords even amended an act in 1980 so the copyright would never expire.

Peter Pan runs at Theatre by the Lake until January 31.

Box office 017687-74411.