BWW REVIEWS: PETER PAN; Fly to Neverland at the Arden Theatre

The Arden's children theater production of Peter Pan may be for kids, but adults will still be enthused. As a fan and scholar of Peter Pan I was incredibly interested to see this adaptation. Often, children's theater takes classic books and dummies them down for kids to the point where they are barely recognizable. This is not the case in this production.

Douglas Irvine's adaptation of J.M. Barrie's original play cuts out some plot and even a character or two (Mr. Darling and the older son, Michael Darling are the most notably absent), but it still manages to remain faithful to a large part of the script, at times even quoting sections directly. Other sections obviously draw heavily on the Barrie but have been simplified for the child audience. Director David O'Connor strikes a good balance in knowing what is for the adults and what is for the children adding in moments of physical comedy that get the biggest laughs from the kids. While the children find the action based scenes and the more slapstick-esque moments most exciting, the adults were laughing at the aspects from the original that soared over the younger audience member's heads. These include themes of gender, motherhood, growing up, and like Captain Hook, wanting to be loved.

The design elements of the show have a steampunk motif. This idea was inspired by an idea by costume designer Richard St. Clair. Steampunk is inspired by 19^th Century Victorian England (the setting of Barrie's premier of Peter Pan) and, according o the Producing Artistic Director "combines that with fantasy and modern styles...[eg.] Combining fantasy and history with a love or gadgetry and fantastical sci-fi machines.

The set follows the steampunk motif but appears like the ideal child's hideaway. Mainly made of wood, it's filled with pulley's that actually move, hidden ladders, fireman poles, platforms, levels and hidden steps. The main platform actually becomes the house under the ground in Act 2 in a rather magical reveal moment. Adorning the set are found objects which include: wheels, trunks, barrels, frame, bike, rocking chair, violins, books, dressmaker's dummy, frames, suitcase, hat stand, sled, old water canteen, accordion, shutters, and lanterns among other things.

The costumes are incredibly detailed. The three actors who play multiple characters have basic black costumes that include cargo pants and combat boots. Even Hook's costume has a steampunk flair with it's rhinestone skull buttons and high wasted thick belt with metal skulls. This is just one example of designer Richard St. Clair's attention to detail put into place in this production. (In a Q&A after the show, Bresky aka Peter Pan said that every leaf in his costume was made of individually died pieces of leather.) The crew members, who are seen at various points are also in costume in black cargos, combat boots, suspenders, hats and goggles. Costumes changes were often done in enough light for the kids to be able to see the change and therefore better understand the actor's shift character.

The flair in the lighting is achieved through neon light bulbs that at different times serve as the "nightlights" Mrs. Darling leaves to protect her children, an army of fairies, and even the fairy Tinkebell. Tink is a puppet designed by Morgan FitzPatrick Andrews. She appears as a firefly neon light bulb on a pole that is swung around by one of the actresses causing the sound of wind chimes to fill the air. She is blue most of the time, but the light turns red when she gets angry or mischievous.

Speaking of puppets, the Lost Boys are puppets as well. They're stunning and it allows the children to better understand which character the actors who play multiple parts are portraying. Each puppet is made out of found objects with a different theme. Tootles is garden based, made out of a watering can, trowel, hose and pots. Slightly is hygiene based, made out of a mirror, combs and brushes. The twins are made of cleaning products, a dustpan, broom, mop, duster, and plunger. Finally, Nibs is made out of kitchen tools, like a teakettle, whisk and tongs.

Peter Pan, played by Chris Bresky, is a complex, wonderful blend of curiosity, naïveté and adventurous spirit. Jacqueline Real's Wendy presents several different ages throughout the show, yet is clearly able to distinguish between young Wendy as a "motherly sort of person" to Peter and the Lost Boys, and the adult mother to Jane. We see the heartbreak, yet understanding when her daughter flies off to Neverland with Peter. Philly favorite, Frank X provides an evil but hilarious Hook. His Act II monologue about Hook's sadness that when children play at "Peter Pan" they always force the baby to be Hook, arouses both sympathy and giggles from the adults in the audience.

All of the other parts are played by three actors: Bi Jean Ngo (Tiger Lily/Bill Jukes/Nibs/Jane/Twins/Tinkerbell), Sarah Sanford (Starkey/Tootles/Mrs. Darling/Twins), and David J. Sweeny (Smee/Slightly/Michael). All managed to present completely different characters, voices and even body language to make these changes clearer for the children.  Sweeny perhaps had the most challenging task in this, as at one point, he went from Slightly to Slightly playing a doctor to Michael the space of five minutes. Some of the most fun moments to watch were when these actors were performing as one character while fighting another one of their characters. In other words, the actor would be a pirate fighting with their Lost Boy puppet alter ego.

A word of advice - following the show don't leave your seat - the actors and crew sit on stage and take a few questions from the audience. Immediately after that, the actors proceed to the lobby where children can say hello and even snap a picture. This is definitely a great show for the kids (the Arden recommends ages five and up), but adults will definitely find a message in it as well.

See the official press release for more information.

 

 

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