On Friday, November 17, and Saturday, November 18, BASIS Peoria’s Scorpion Theatre performed the beloved Tony-winning fall play, Peter and the Starcatcher. The retold story of how an orphan boy lost at sea becomes the “Boy Who Shall Not Be Named” – aka. the prelude of Peter Pan – went through a significant transformation and a swift upbringing. The play consists of themes of finding one’s identity, finding one’s family with the people around them, and above all, sky-high adventure!
J.M. Barrie’s original novel of the classic tale of Peter Pan and Wendy, written in 1904, is reimagined into Peter and the Starcatchers, a children’s novel published by Hyperion Books and written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson in 2004. The play was based on a 2004 novel written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, the theatrical adaptation of the script was written by Rick Elice, and all the music was provided by Wayne Barker.
The play is divided into 2 acts: Act 1 outlines the story of how three filthy orphans set sail at dawn to the docks of Portsmouth and Act 2 outlines Peter and the boys being shipwrecked to Mollusk island and Peter gaining the magic to fly with the help of starstuff.
The play begins with a background that lacks any setting in the beginning. The audience pictures an empty blackboard that is waiting to be colored with thrilling action. In walks Peter who is still an unnamed orphan boy – he’s called “Boy” at the moment – who acts like a narrator retelling a story he’s experienced in the past. He, along with other characters who’ve experienced the events he had, tells the origin story of Peter Pan. The characters are arranged into various groups that play a significant role in the play: the British subjects (Lord Leonard Aster, Molly Aster, Mrs. Bumbrake, Captain Robert Falcon Scott, and Grempkin), the Orphans (Peter, Ted, and Prentiss), the Seafarers (Bill Slank, Alf, Mack, Black Stache, Smee, and Sánchez), and, last but not least, the Natives (Fighting Prawn, Hawking Clam, and Teacher).
Here’s the story as it’s told in the play:
“Peter and the Starcatcher” follows the adventures of a young orphan named Peter, who, along with a group of other orphans, is sent on a ship called the Neverland. Onboard, they encounter Molly Aster, a courageous and intelligent girl who possesses a mysterious trunk containing powerful starstuff. The trunk becomes the focal point of the story, as various characters, including the villainous pirate Black Stache and the ship’s captain Bill Slank, vie for control of its magical contents.
As the plot unfolds, it is revealed that Molly is on a mission to protect the starstuff from falling into the wrong hands. She forms a bond with Peter, and together, along with a group of sailors and natives from the island, they face numerous challenges and adventures. The characters encounter mermaids, confront the treacherous Black Stache and his sidekick Smee, and ultimately find themselves shipwrecked on the mysterious island.
Throughout the play, the origins of well-known characters from J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan are explored, offering a humorous and imaginative backstory. Peter discovers his ability to fly, the origins of Captain Hook’s animosity towards him are revealed, and the audience witnesses the birth of the iconic crocodile, Tic-Toc Croc.
Some key takeaways of the magical story are:
This imaginative prequel to J.M. Barrie’s classic story of Peter Pan takes the audience on a thrilling and humorous adventure, all while being told with almost no lighting, props, or sound effects to let the audience explore the story using their own imagination.
The play not only explores the origins of beloved characters such as Peter Pan, Captain Hook, and Tinker Bell, providing a whimsical and entertaining backstory to their well-known roles but also forms an enlightening narrative that weaves together elements of friendship and self-discovery. With Peter and his orphan friends Ted and Prentiss discussing amongst themselves who the real leader of the group is, they indirectly discuss the key roles of leadership and its significance in a character’s identity and relationships with others. Additionally, as they befriend Molly and go on countless, unexpected adventures together as they have to come across a shipwreck, pirate crew, ticking crocodile, and island natives to get to their destiny, they understand the memories they made along the way while progressing through their journey, which trump the joy and later departure they receive after finding their way back “home”, whatever their “home” means to them. As the story is being told in real-time in the past, a sense of childhood and youth invigorates the characters as well as a sense of maturity, a sense that they explore new lands, win some, lose some, all while playing a game none of them know while also understanding the importance of companionship, trust, family, identity, and, eventually loss, as Molly leaves the island to go on her merry way back to Britain to grow up to become a fine woman. In a way, while the British seafarers, pirates, and Mollusk natives represent life’s many exciting adventures, Molly, Aster, and Mrs. Bumbrake symbolize the progression of time in the real world that must commence even after memories have been cherished and remembered while Peter Pan and the orphans, now the Lost Boys, symbolize the childhood that continues to live inside individuals over the course of their lifetime, especially as they grow up. Even when people grow up, they will always be the curious, adventurous child they were.
