REVIEW: Peter and the Starcatcher is a Rousing Playground of Fun
Through 03/23 @ Schenectady Light Opera Company
All photos by Andrew Elder of Best Frame Forward
“More than a little of the childlike fun of this production is the teasing of genders. Men play women, women play men…and sometimes they don’t.”
Not a theatre season goes by without a trip to Neverland…or Oz or Through the Looking Glass and perhaps it’s our immersion in these children’s classics, our modern mythology, that frees artists up to swing for the fences creatively.
There are startlingly original performances in Rick Elice’s very popular and frequently performed Pan origin story Peter and the Starcatcher (originally a book by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson) on stage now as one of the very few plays performed at Schenectady Light Opera Company.
Director Molly Waters is a beloved Capital Region actor, fight choreographer and supporter of local talent. Her sunny, cheerful playfulness is evident in her production from the moment you enter the converted church. She designed the kid’s paradise of a wood jungle gym pirate ship and her father, Tom Waters, built it with a crew. The cast is playing on it as the audience enters.
There are towers for climbing, nets for lounging, stair units that roll and a large platform one flight up, stage right for the two man band and the great Music Director James Alexander. If anything, there was more playground than they could work into the show. Very effective lighting design by Laura Darling.
This is a play with music and to underline the melding of venue, subject and spirit the cast starts off the evening with a rousing 20 minute, full cast, round of sea shanties. Brush up on the lyrics to “What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor?” for the pre-show festivities.
The play purports to tell us how Peter Pan came to be and alongside that there are many Easter eggs and derivation stories from the J.M. Barrie classic novels such as Who are Wendy, Nana, Tinkerbell and Captain Hook and where do they come from? Why does Peter never age and how can he fly?
The adventure story starts on two ships heading out with three orphans sold into service and two identical trunks – one filled with treasure for the Queen and one filled with sand. One of the ships is taken over by a band of pirates led by a very familiar pirate named Black Stache (David Quiñones) and the two ships do battle, sending everyone to the Island of Rangoon where the second act opens with a kick line with fins. (Colorful, creative costume design by Rory Alexa).
One of the orphans has no name and when he encounters Black Stache, he is lured to join their crew as Pirate Pete. Max Beyer has a full-throated anguish as the boy who has been done wrong by every adult in his life and given the choice? He won’t grow up.
David Quiñones is having the time of his life sashaying as Stache. He’s got a playful, fey manner and he is just as jolly whether he’s blowing kisses or threatening with a knife to the throat. It’s a joyful, demented, somewhat dim pirate and we can’t wait for his next appearance. Wren DiCocco is his equal as trusty goofball, Smee.
Ben Amey is enjoying the chance to play dress-up as Mrs. Bumbrake. He is suave, proper, feminine as hell and pricelessly hysterical in his heels, apron, tie and Errol Flynn mustache. It’s the mashing of genders that plays like a house on fire.
More than a little of the childlike fun of this production is the teasing of genders. Men play women, women play men…and sometimes they don’t. I’ve heard it described as “gender blank” casting and it frees up everyone which this cast is certainly open to. There is great ensemble playing here.
Hannah M. DeStefano is a darling of an actor. (See what I did there?) She has a great dialect, action star energy and great timing. She is a boy’s adventure ideal of a worthy sidekick and shows the attraction of the young woman she is becoming.
The story is a bit of a mish mosh b’gosh with flying cats, star stuff, a tribe of Italian chefs and random stakes ratcheting. It’s ten pounds of whimsy in a five pound bag. You’ll be forgiven if it doesn’t completely make sense to you but it does provide a great field for play and that’s more than enough when the cast and crew are having this much fun. Just let go and you’ll be fine.
It’s important to acknowledge, welcome and celebrate steps taken towards innovation and progressive thinking and actions wherever possible. I applaud SLOC for going outside the musical canon and scheduling this play, Molly Waters for her directorial debut and all the actors appearing on SLOC’s stage for the first time and the veterans who are cutting exceptionally strong profiles in overly familiar roles.
Peter and the Starcatcher is a great, fun night out with some howlingly good performances.
Peter and the Starcatcher plays through 3/23 at Schenectady Light Opera Company. Tickets: www.sloctheater.org or 518-730-7370
