Review by Neal Newman
December 8, 2024
PETER PAN fills us senior citizens with profound memories. Who wouldn’t like to remain a little kid for as long as you want? Who hasn’t dreamed of being able to fly, not to mention fighting all those villains with guns or swords in “an awfully big adventure?”
Today’s children are assaulted with media, and ALICE IN WONDERLAND, THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS, and PETER PAN may be unknown to them; Philadelphia audiences and children can be grateful to The Arden Children’s Theatre for again presenting PAN in an unusually imaginative production. Peter will again swoop into Wendy’s third-floor bedroom, teach her to fly off to Neverland when one never grows up.
James M. Barrie’s play debuted in 1903 with a gargantuan production that was verrrrry long. This version by Douglas Irvine is, thankfully, one hour and forty-five minutes and demands that the audience use their imagination.
Irvine (he insists he be called Dougie) is the artistic director of VISUAL FICTIONS, a Scottish theater that presents original and classic stories in unexpected styles, often involving puppetry, story theatre, or Asian theater practices. They’ve done ROBIN HOOD and TREASURE ISLAND but also serious plays on social issues. Irvine’s trimming has proved a boon to all smaller communities that cannot support the 1903 Production; some of the darker profundities have been softened, and many changes reflect modern children’s theater morality: There are no “red Indians,” and the sword fighting is done only with streamers and lights, This version maintains all of the famous quotable lines, and with the direction of Whit MacLaughlin and an outstanding professional company the final scene is as moving as ever. This means that adults and their children will enjoy it.
The roles of Peter and Captain Hook are not doubled here, but everyone else is. You’ll have to check your program carefully because some disguises and characterizations are pretty clever. The three are Alan Howard, Lee Minora, and Jessica Money. The moment they instantly change from evil pirates to terrified, lost boys is hilarious.
Campbell O’Hare is convincing as the preteen Wendy, later, amazingly, as a grownup. She immediately charms the audience and serves as a superb master of ceremonies when the children are invited to ask questions after the curtain call. (How old are you really, Wendy?”) She tells them violating an ancient code of actresses.
Jo Vito Ramirez plays Peter, who returns to the role from Arden’s 2017 production. He brings a teenage swagger to the part in the style of Elvis Presley, complete with a spangle-studded vest and a 4-inch-high hairdo. He gleefully brings the joy and dangerous quality that is so necessary to the role and rises to dramatic heights in the final moments.
Hook (J. Hernandes) conveys all the traditional fierceness expected of the captain of the pirate ship, but his witty and beautifully well-spoken Hook allows you to fear him and like him simultaneously. He demonstrates great variety in the role, especially in the soft-spoken “smile” speech as he schemes to poison the sleeping Pan. Readers of this column will remember that Hernandes played CYRANO in November. How an actor, no matter how skilled, can land these two glorious roles in two months, in Philadelphia yet, is astounding. Bravo.
The director has teamed with an equally skilled list of technical collaborators. The set design by David P. Gordon uses a unit set inspired by the artist Magritte; it seems simple but is filled with continual surprises, none of which can be revealed here. Most important is the speed of the scene changes, eliminating those curtain-down lengthy scene changes so beloved by Victorian orchestra leaders and despised by modern audiences. Gordon is hand in hand with the lighting of Krista Smith, which reveals many quick-changing delights. The costumes of Jillian Keys are essentially modern but retain the traditional colors. Wendy wears overalls, but they are light blue, and Peter’s tight jeans are dyed green with holes in the knees. Larry Fowler’s sound and projections add much. The crocodile only appears through sound, and it works well.
If your kids don’t know who Peter Pan is. . .well, you get the idea.
RUNNING TIME: Two hours with one intermission, including talk back.
PETER PAN runs through January 19 at the Arden Children’s Theatre at 40 N. Second Street, Philadelphia. Tickets can be obtained at ardentheatre.org or by calling 215-922-1122. They are also now available at the TKTS booth at a reduced price.