Ashlee Robison, staff writer

The production of Peter Pan, directed by senior Charlotte Lawrence, went off without a hitch in front of a packed crowd at Kittredge Theatre this past weekend. The show was wonderful because it appealed equally to the many children in the audience and the adults who are still young at heart. The entire cast put in an enormous amount of work getting the play ready, and it was well executed, especially for a student directed production.

The cast kept the audience laughing throughout the play with the biggest laughs coming when Peter Pan, played by junior Bobby Bailey, taught Wendy, John, and Michael how to fly. Peter got a running start and glided across the stage on Heelys, the shoes that have a hidden rolling heel in the back. The other children soon caught on and then they were all flying across the stage on the rolling shoes. This idea was an ingenious way to save money and time on the normal method of suspending actors from cables for the flight scenes. Every time one of the Darling children took off in flight the audience cracked up laughing.

Bailey took on the role of Peter Pan and deftly blended the young boy who wanted a mother with his innocent fascination of Wendy. Junior Lauren Kriel played Wendy in a commanding performance capturing the girl’s authoritative demeanor among the Lost Boys and young charm with Peter Pan.

English professor Dr. David Mycoff played Captain Hook and made the character at once villainous, as he plotted against the Lost Boys, and funny, as he ran from the ticking crocodile.

Sophomore Zachary Davidson, in the role of Smee,  had some of the funniest lines in the play and carried out the performance with an accent, gray wig, and beard.

Junior Asha Disu as Peter Pan’s shadow, junior Avery Sawyer as Mrs. Darling, and junior Camille Cassada as the ever-present Tinker Bell put in other exceptional performances.

The Lost Boys were boisterous, entertaining, and constantly tumbling over each other. They were all believable and very amusing when Wendy Lady arrived at Never, Never, Neverland to tuck them into bed and tell them stories.
The pirates were loud and rough. Their costumes were some of the best in the play with hats, earrings, face and body paint.

The production of Peter Pan was a tremendous success and raised around $1600 from donations and snacks for the Presbyterian Homes for Children. This was parallel, according to playbill, to J.M. Barrie’s original donation in 1929 of the rights of Peter Pan to the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. Congratulations to everyone involved in the wonderful production.