For Peter Pan fans only

Let me put my cards on the table from the start: I love Christmas. I adore the shameless consumerism, the awful telly repeats and the pathological binge eating. So why, I wonder, do the terrible Yuletide words Peter Pan always bring on an attack of curmudgeonly bahhumbugism?

Perhaps it has something to do with the strangely queasy attitude towards women and female sexuality in the play. Wendy, in typical Madonnawhore fashion, goes from prepubescence to motherhood without so much as a whiff of puberty, after all. The most matronly character, Nana, is actually a dog.

And Peter himself is often played by a middle-aged actress. Really, it makes the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch seem positively dull. However, when I heard that the Theatre Museum was putting on a Peter Pan exhibition to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the play, I was glad of the opportunity to face my fears. Perhaps I'd emerge a convert?

But this small, celebratory display is strictly for the Pan fans only. Mainly consisting of around 100 unlabelled black and white photos from past productions with a short history of the show, the highlights include a rather mouldy-looking flying harness from the first production in 1904 and some snatches of over-enunciated cut-glass dialogue recorded in the 1920s (which play on a loop) which actually proved to be weirdly fascinating.

Until Mar 13, Theatre Museum, Russell Street WC2, Tue to Sun 10am to 6pm, free. Tel: 020 7943 4700. www.theatremuseum.org Tube: Covent Garden