The Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Peter Pan opened at the Barbican Theatre in 1982, and was revived in 1983 and 1984, each time with a different Peter. Miles Anderson was the first adult man to play the role of Peter, followed in subsequent years by Mark Rylance and John McAndrew.

The part has traditionally been played by a woman but Trevor Nunn and John Caird, the directors, recognised that the piece, like many other children's classics, also has a darker side which remained unnoticed while the play conformed to the pantomime convention of a principal boy.

Trevor Nunn redirected the play at the Royal National Theatre in 1997-8. The rights to perform the play remain, as J M Barrie intended, with Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children. More information can be found at the Great Ormond Street Hospital website.