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Theater review: Peter Pan and Wendy
Dec. 7th, 2019 07:44 pmSaw Lauren Gunderson's new adaptation of Peter Pan and Wendy at the Shakespeare Theater Company last night!! The show premiered less than a week ago so not much has been written up about it yet, but the one article I found beforehand basically described it as J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan and Wendy with more female agency and less racism. This isn't necessarily inaccurate, but I feel like it undersells exactly what a creative, meaningful, and complete reimagining this was.
Wendy, in this version, is an aspiring astronomer (and Marie Curie fangirl) who is happy to share all the stories she knows and bring some much-needed common sense to the table, but is not here to be anyone's mother, thank you very much. Tiger Lily is kind of the cool, exasperated big sister of the Lost Boys, but she's not there to babysit them, either. She's the last of the "first dreamers" of Neverland, her family wiped out by Hook in his efforts to control the island - control of Neverland means control of children's dreams, and control of children's dreams means control of the future - and she wants the pirates gone, once and for all.
Hook was characterized as a cross between an 80s businessman - the first time we see him, he's sitting at a desk barking at Smee that he doesn't want excuses, he wants RESULTS! - and the personification of all the most deranged foreign policy decisions of the British Empire; when it comes time for the final fight scene, he's wearing everything but the pith helmet. (His coat even had gold crocodile-skull epaulettes!) His hair was a pompadoured blonde wig with the consistency of stiff cotton candy, which, yes, definitely called to mind the person you're thinking of right now. (As is traditional, the actor playing Hook - who I'd previously seen as Malvolio in a STC production of Twelfth Night - also played Mr. Darling; possibly less traditionally[?], Tinker Bell and Mrs. Darling were also doubled up.)
The biggest change of all is that Peter Pan does grow up - just a little - at the end, at least in terms of emotional maturity. Part of the new storyline about Hook's efforts to gain complete control over Neverland is the reveal that Peter does, in fact, control it - hence why Hook was after Peter even before the whole hand incident - and, more importantly, that this wasn't always the case. Neverland used to belong to Tiger Lily's people, and the island's sudden adherence to Peter's whims upon his arrival - his desire for adventure, as defined by the involvement of pirates and sword fights - was as much a factor in their destruction as Hook's greed. At the end of the play, Peter returns the island to Tiger Lily and promises to help her efforts to make things right, however he can. He also learns a valuable lesson about listening to people when they try to help you instead of pushing them away, because being selfish and refusing to change is how you end up like Captain Hook.
Even with the slightly more serious underlying messages, it was still incredibly whimsical and charming!
( Read more... )
Wendy, in this version, is an aspiring astronomer (and Marie Curie fangirl) who is happy to share all the stories she knows and bring some much-needed common sense to the table, but is not here to be anyone's mother, thank you very much. Tiger Lily is kind of the cool, exasperated big sister of the Lost Boys, but she's not there to babysit them, either. She's the last of the "first dreamers" of Neverland, her family wiped out by Hook in his efforts to control the island - control of Neverland means control of children's dreams, and control of children's dreams means control of the future - and she wants the pirates gone, once and for all.
Hook was characterized as a cross between an 80s businessman - the first time we see him, he's sitting at a desk barking at Smee that he doesn't want excuses, he wants RESULTS! - and the personification of all the most deranged foreign policy decisions of the British Empire; when it comes time for the final fight scene, he's wearing everything but the pith helmet. (His coat even had gold crocodile-skull epaulettes!) His hair was a pompadoured blonde wig with the consistency of stiff cotton candy, which, yes, definitely called to mind the person you're thinking of right now. (As is traditional, the actor playing Hook - who I'd previously seen as Malvolio in a STC production of Twelfth Night - also played Mr. Darling; possibly less traditionally[?], Tinker Bell and Mrs. Darling were also doubled up.)
The biggest change of all is that Peter Pan does grow up - just a little - at the end, at least in terms of emotional maturity. Part of the new storyline about Hook's efforts to gain complete control over Neverland is the reveal that Peter does, in fact, control it - hence why Hook was after Peter even before the whole hand incident - and, more importantly, that this wasn't always the case. Neverland used to belong to Tiger Lily's people, and the island's sudden adherence to Peter's whims upon his arrival - his desire for adventure, as defined by the involvement of pirates and sword fights - was as much a factor in their destruction as Hook's greed. At the end of the play, Peter returns the island to Tiger Lily and promises to help her efforts to make things right, however he can. He also learns a valuable lesson about listening to people when they try to help you instead of pushing them away, because being selfish and refusing to change is how you end up like Captain Hook.
Even with the slightly more serious underlying messages, it was still incredibly whimsical and charming!
( Read more... )
