Drama club gives enthusiastic “Peter Pan” performance

GREENSBORO, CRAFTSBURY – The Craftsbury Academy Drama Club gave a very enthusiastic performance of “Peter Pan, A New Musical Adaptation,” created, directed and choreographed by Taryn Noelle, at the Highland Center for the Arts, Thursday, May 7, and Friday, May 8, to near-capacity audiences.

This play was first performed in London in 1904, written by Sir James Matthew Barrie (1860 – 1937), a Scottish novelist and playwright, becoming an instant classic and traditionally staged at Christmas in England ever since. Barrie was deeply traumatized by the death of a brother when he was six, leading to a lifelong glorification of childhood and a corresponding disenchantment with adult life. In Peter Pan he brought to life new characters for English mythology, full of imagination and magic, especially in Peter, the adventurous boy who refused to grow up.

The first film of the play was made in 1924, the famous Disney version was produced in 1953 with terrific animation, and in 1954 a Broadway musical with memorable melodies starring Mary Martin premiered, remembered especially for her flights suspended by thin cables. It was made into a television video in 1960. 

The play began with a prologue by Chase Davey, who explained Peter Pan’s characteristics, as the boy wanting to be young forever, getting his magical powers of eternal youth and being able to fly from drinking the waters in the fantasy world of Neverland.

The first scene was in the nursery of the Darling family in their London townhouse. Mary Darling (Josephine Pare) and George Darling (Poppy Gletsos) came in to see their children before they went to bed, who are John (Jaden Maclay), Wendy (Lilly Cookson) and Michael (Willa Nunnery), all looked after by Nana the Nursemaid Dog (Alice LaChance).

They begged to have their parents read them the story, and Nana’s ten puppies joined them playfully on their beds, (Faewynn Samadhi, Thaya Rodriguez-Diaz, Calven Ciecierski, Joseph Ciecierski, Joseph Maclay, Wyatt Sims, Abi League, Maisie Stout, Scarlett Pelland and Winter Pelland). There were several songs and carefully coordinated dancing and they talked about the imagination and what the world could be.

Their parents left and suddenly the wind grew louder as Peter Pan (Edie Wells) flew into their room through an open window. He introduced himself and invited them to go with him to Neverland, a place where everything you may have imagined is real. The three Darling children agreed and with special dust from the fairy Tinkerbell (Zariah Decherd), Peter Pan’s companion, they all flew off to Neverland. 

The second scene was in the Lost Kids Hideout on a tropical island. It was populated by abandoned children that Peter Pan had rescued, such as Slightly (Hyla Thompson), Toodles (August Valcour-Greenia), Nibs (Posey Hannan), Curly (Maleigha Sarget), Lost Kid Twin One, (Chase Davey), Lost Kid Twin Two (Katherin Limlaw) and other Lost children, (Alice Lachance, Iris Jacobs, Abi League, Maisie Stout, Scarlett Pelland, Winter Pelland, Lytle Reynolds, Faewynn Samadhi, Thayra Rodriguez-Diaz, Joseph Maclay and Wyatt Sims). They sized up the newcomers, sang and did some choreographed numbers together. The boom of a cannon warned them that the Pirates were in the area. 

In scene three Peter Pan took John, Wendy and Michael to the Mermaid Lagoon, where they met the lovely mermaids who all had flowers in their hats: Calypso (Allie Lachance), Nessa (Hyla Thompson), Marina (Posey Hannan), Opal (Iris Jacobs), Jade (Abi League), Lizzie (Maisie Stout), Ondine (Scarlett Pelland), Eira (Winter Pelland), Sabina (Lytle Reynolds) and another mermaid (Faewynn Samadhi). They were introduced to Lily, the Spirit of the Island (Josephine Pare), who showed Peter Pan how the water could sustain his youth. Another boom from a second cannon shot ended this dreamy paradise, indicating the Pirates were getting closer. 

Scene four was aboard the Jolly Roger, the pirate ship of Captain Hook (Poppy Gletsos), Peter Pan’s arch enemy, who lost his right hand and had only a hook in its place. In conversations with his fellow pirates Hook seemed a strange mixture of a bully, yet subject to attacks of fear and emotional collapse. The crew consisted of Cecco (Iris Jacobs), Cookson (Angel Rodriguez-Diaz), Starky (Maleigha Sargent), Wyatt (Wyatt Sims) and others who are unnamed (August Valcour-Greenia, Posey Hannan, Calven Cierterski, Joseph Ciecierski and Joseph Maclay). They sang a boisterous song, “Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate’s Life for Me” and danced together, a tick-tock tick-tock sound indicating a crocodile (Chase Davey) was nearby and terrified Captain Hook, who had almost been devoured by one before. In the meantime he was conspiring with Smee (Katherin Limlaw) to kill Peter Pan by substituting a poison bottle for the usual bedtime medicines that Wendy gave her siblings and the Lost Kids.

Scene five was back at the Lost Kids Hideout, where Wendy was reading the Lost Kids some stories before they went to sleep. After an argument about what story to hear next and friendly brawl, they sang a song (from Hamilton) and danced. They took their medicines and Peter Pan was about to take his, but the pirate Smee snuck up and put a bottle containing poison in his hand. Fortunately, Tinkerbell saw this, warned him and swept down taking the bottle and drinking it herself, crumpling to the ground. When Peter Pan realized what happened, he was shocked, but she whispered if people would only clap, she would recover. The Lost Kids and even the audience joined in clapping and singing and she revived, saving herself from death. They then danced in a circle and paired off as they rotated. 

In scene six, aboard the Jolly Roger, the Lost Kids and Peter Pan had been kidnapped and brought to the ship. Captain Hook threatened Peter but Lily and Tinkerbell untied the hostages and armed them with somewhat useless everyday utensils. Peter Pan and Captain Hook then fought an uneven match (with Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” in the background). Suddenly the crocodile came back and Hook fled, with the other pirates after him. 

The seventh scene was back at the Lost Kids Hideout. They celebrated their victory over the pirates but the three Darling children regretfully said they had to return home now. The Lost Kids urged them to stay, giving them a storybook about their adventures in Neverland. Wendy said to Peter Pan, “Everyone grows up, but that doesn’t mean you have to lose the magic.” With Tinkerbell’s fairy dust they then flew back to London. 

In scene eight they are in the nursery again and their parents were welcoming. In a subsequent flash forward in twenty years, Peter Pan returns to the Darling home and talks to Wendy and her daughter Moira (Zariah Descherd). She had heard about Neverland from her mother and wanted to go there. The story ends with Peter Pan and Moira flying away for new adventures of their own and the fantasy continues for another generation. 

An Epilogue contains some moving sentiments about identifying with the Lost Kids in Peter Pan, yet how we can go from loneliness into the world of imagination like Neverland and become free. 

Taryn Noelle has done an impressive job as author of the adapted script, the director and imaginative choreographer, coordinating a remarkable number of people from the community to make this production of Peter Pan possible. Tara Goreau deserves mention for her excellent backdrop paintings for the different scenes, as well as illustrations for the program and especially the large cover for the printed version of this play.

The opportunity for so many local children to be involved in live theater is a great blessing, encouraging the growth of dramatic talent and being an invaluable community builder.

On a personal level, there are many positive messages in Peter Pan that can give people a foundation of life-long wisdom, which is one reason why the play remains popular over a hundred years after it was written.

Thanks to Rosann Hickey for making this review possible by lending the script.