PANDEMONIUM Comes to the People's Improv Theater LOFT This Week

Theatergoers of all ages will have a chance to see Peter Pan and Captain Hook navigate the real world, in a new play about what happens when the characters from the J.M. Barrie classic find themselves stranded, marooned or simply freed in the real world.

Pandemonium, a new sequel to the Peter Pan story, takes flight in a three-show, preview at the PIT (People's Improv Theater) LOFT at 154 W. 29th St. August 12-14 with all shows at 7 p.m. as part of its summer programming.

Shows then follow in a full production as part of the Dream Up Festival at Theater for the New City, 155 First. Ave., on Aug. 29 at 6:30 p,m,, Aug. 30 at 6:30 p.m., Aug. 31 at 9 p.m., Sept. 1 at 9 p,m, and Sept. 3 at 2 p.m,

Pandemonium, written by Claude Solnik and directed by Tony Chiofalo, follows Pan and Hook when they essentially escape from the book, or at least emerge into the real world.

"This play is designed to be a fun story about what would happen if Peter and Hook showed up at an ordinary home," Solnik said. "I wondered what would happen and this play is the result."

A brother and sister (played by Anthony Buonagurio and Chloe Keil) find and hide Hook (Kevin Clyne) and Peter (Calvin Zanetti). Meanwhile, their parents played by Patrick Reilly and Kami Crary decide what to do, benefiting from what they begin to view as a windfall.

Greg Halvorsen plays Leon Thoroughgood, a lawyer who comes up with plans to profit when Peter and Hook appear outside the book.

"We find out they basically broke out of the book, although the play explains how," Chiofalo said. "We all live our own story. Pandemonium shows what happens when we leave that story behind and, in a way, try to rewrite it."

Pan meets a girl named Wendy (Kassidy Rieder Collins) as he and Hook, with his amusing pirate lingo, go up against a book dealer named Leon Thoroughgood (Greg Halvorsen) who has his own plans for this displaced duo. Lights are by Marsh Shugart and costumes are by Wendy Tonken.

"We get to see Peter and Hook, but we also get to see how these characters might react and even change in a world with technology," Solnik said. "They become celebrities, even rock stars in a world with cell phones, selfies and streaming."

The play lets us see what might happen to these characters if they could exist outside of the literary world where they were introduced, emerging into our lives.

"Older people remember Peter and Hook and Wendy and Tinker Bell, who's also a character here," Chiofalo said. "Younger people are growing up with these characters in the story where they were born. Pandemonium is a great way to enjoy a trip into a fantasy world and see what happens if the boy who never grows up somehow escapes the events of the book where he was born."

Solnik said lately there has been a trend where plays continue stories and work with classic characters. "Peter Pan comes from a great story," Solnik said. "Every book is a journey. In Pandemonium, the journey continues as Peter flies again. This time imagine that he flies right up to your front door."

Pandemonium, The Pit Loft, three-show preview run, 154 W. 29th St., Aug. 12-14 performances at 7 p.m. 212-244-1722. https://thepit-nyc.com/events/

 

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