Tuesday, November 25, 1997
‘Peter and Wendy’ brings magic of Neverland back
THEATER Adaptation of story reminisces about childhood using
puppets
By Kristi Nakamura
Daily Bruin Contributor
"All at once her own childhood hovered around her and in it the
shadow of Peter."
One night he came and changed her life forever, with his messy
brown hair, unkempt, tattered clothes and still in possession of
all his first teeth. He took her and flew her away out the bedroom
window, over the gloom of the grown-up city to those magic shores
where children play forever.
Neverland, the mystical land of eternal childhood, comes to the
Geffen Playhouse in December, courtesy of the Mabou Mines theater
company for a special holiday presentation of "Peter and
Wendy."
Springing from the minds of Mabou Mines, the experimental
theater group that, among other things, created a three-part epic
about the life of a dog and cast a woman as King Lear, this
adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s classic story is not your typical
production.
"When children find fantasy more attractive than being mothered,
they leave and then they become scared that they are going to lose
their mothers, and they return from their fantasies," says director
Lee Breuer. "But little by little, kids learn that our life in the
world is our fantasies becoming real."
The play is staged around a grown-up Wendy remembering her
childhood as the story unfolds around her. The action never
actually leaves her room or her memory. As Wendy reminisces, her
room transforms with the sheets on the children’s beds becoming the
sails of the pirate ship.
In the role of Wendy, actress Karen Kandel puts on a one-woman
show of sorts. As the only actual human character on the stage,
Kandel not only plays Wendy, but provides narration for the story
and the voices for at least 15 puppet characters that seem almost
real.
"When you see these puppets which are so lifelike but so
obviously dolls, its very sort (is) evocative of how this is about
imagination, that these characters are both absolutely real and not
so," says producer and play adapter Liza Lorwin.
The puppets are Japanese bunraku puppets, each one requiring
three white linen-draped puppeteers to operate. The puppet
movements, choreographed in front of a mirror, attempt to create
the illusion of human movement.
"Bunraku is a dance form. You see, the three people have to move
like three dancers. The lead puppeteer goes left, and they all have
to move simultaneously if it is to go right," says Breuer, who
studied at UCLA in the early 1970s. "If it’s not dance, it’s wrong.
These puppeteers are actors who work as pianists. It comes out of
their hands. All of that emotion is coming out their fingers."
Although children might be entranced by the puppets as living
dolls, the "Peter and Wendy" Mabou Mines offers to the audiences in
Westwood is a far cry from the cute, child-friendly,
happily-ever-after Disney version.
"I adapted (the Mabou Mines version of ‘Peter and Wendy’) from
the novel, and, to me, the novel is really much darker and more
lyrical than the (original 1904) play," Lorwin says. "I really
think there’s a meditation on loss of childhood and love out of
reach, and that’s far more wistful than the play, and therefore,
it’s really much more for adults."
That is not to say that "Peter and Wendy" will not be
interesting to children. After opening off-Broadway last February,
Variety published a review marveling at the show’s "power to hold
an audience of small children while their adult companions weep
over matters that the younger viewers will not understand for years
to come."
Another original twist Mabou Mines adds to their adaptation of
"Peter and Wendy" is the presence of live musical accompaniment.
Scottish composer Johnny Cunningham created the hauntingly
nostalgic score for the show.
"Of course, J.M. Barrie himself was Scottish, and one of the
things we felt early on was that the sort of Scottish rhythms that
were clearly in Barrie’s head were really evident in his writing
and that Scottish music would support those rhythms in a really
beautiful way," Lorwin says.
Through "Peter and Wendy," Mabou Mines clearly shows that they
can relate to the sad, sentimental yearning for childhood that
Barrie so clearly communicated in his writing. While the character
of Peter is truly a magic boy, Lorwin hopes the audience will see
that the real magic is not in Neverland, but in children playing
with toys.
"The last thing he ever said to me was, ‘Just always be waiting
for me, and then some night you will hear me crowing,’" an adult
Wendy recalls.
Maybe for audiences in Westwood, the blurring of fantasy and
reality that comes from the imagination of a 5-year-old eternal
child can bring some respite from the encompassing hustle and
bustle, end-of-quarter finals, holiday travel, shopping-mall crowds
and other stresses.
"If only I could go with you," Wendy cries longingly to Peter as
he flies away to Neverland with her daughter, Jane. If only we all
could go with you, Peter Pan.
THEATER: "Peter and Wendy" will play at the Geffen Playhouse,
10886 Le Conte Ave. in Westwood Dec. 4-28. Preview performances are
Dec. 2-3. Preview tickets are $23 for adults and $10 for children.
Regular performance tickets are $27.50-$37.50 for adults and
$17.50-$37.50 for children. Student rush tickets are available for
$15. For more information, call (310) 208-5454 .
Geffen Playhouse
Karen Kandel stars in "Peter and Wendy" at the Geffen
Playhouse.