PCPA Theaterfest Student Matinee Program www.pcpa.org Study

PCPA Theaterfest
Student Matinee Program
www.pcpa.org
A Musical Based on the Play by James M. Barrie
Music by Mark Charlap Additional Music by Jule Styne
Lyrics by Carolyn Leigh Additional Lyrics by Betty Comdenand Adolph Green Originally Adapted and Directed by Jerome Robbins
Study Guide for Educators
Generously sponsored by Ng & Ng Dental and Eye Care
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Welcome to PCPA Theaterfest
A NOTE TO THE TEACHER
Thank you for bringing your students to PCPA Theaterfest at Allan Hancock College. Here are some helpful
hints for your visit to the Marian Theatre. The top priority of our staff is to provide an enjoyable day of live
theatre for you and your students. We offer you this study guide as a tool to prepare your students prior to the
performance.
SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDENT ETIQUETTE
Note-able behavior is a vital part of theater for youth. Going to the theater is not a casual event. It is a special
occasion. If students are prepared properly, it will be a memorable, educational experience they will remember
for years.
1. Have students enter the theater in a single file. Chaparones should be one adult for every ten students. Our
ushers will assist you with locating your seats. Please wait until the usher has seated your party before any
rearranging of seats to avoid injury and confusion. While seated, teachers should space themselves so they are
visible, between every groups of ten students. Teachers and adults must remain with their group during the
entire performance.
2. Once seated in the theater, students may go to the bathroom in small groups and with the teacher's
permission. Please chaperone younger students. Once the show is over, please remain seated until the House
Manager dismisses your school.
3. Please remind your students that we do not permit:
- food, gum, drinks, smoking, hats, backpacks or large purses
- disruptive talking.
- disorderly and inappropriate behavior (stepping on/over seats, throwing objects, etc.)
- cameras, iPods, cell phones, beepers, tape recorders, hand held video games. (Adults are asked to put any
beepers or cell phones on silent or vibrate.) In cases of disorderly behavior, groups may be asked to leave the
theater without ticket refunds.
4. Teachers should take time to remind students before attending the show of the following about a live
performance: Sometimes we forget when we come into a theatre that we are one of the most important parts of
the production. Without an audience there would be no performance. Your contribution of laughter, quiet
attention and applause is part of the play.
When we watch movies or television we are watching images on a screen, and what we say or do cannot affect
them. In the theatre the actors are real people who are present and creating an experience with us at that very
moment. They see and hear us and are sensitive to our response. They know how we feel about the play by how
we watch and listen. An invisible bond is formed between actors and a good audience, and it enables the actors
to do their best for you. A good audience helps make a good performance.
PCPA Theaterfest welcomes you as a partner in the live theatre experience from the moment you take your
seats. We hope that your visit will be a highlight of your school year.
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Peter Pan – Cast and Production Team
Director
Musical Director
Choreographer
Scenic Designer
Costume Designer
Patricia M. Troxel
Callum Morris
Michael Jenkinson
DeAnne Kennedy
Cheryl Odom
Lighting Designer
Jen 'Z' Zornow
Sound Designer
Matt Carpenter
Voice/Dialect Coach
Andrew Philpot
Fight Director
Mark Booher
Flying Effects
ZFX
Cast of Characters
Peter Pan . . . Natasha Harris
Wendy Darling . . . Jillian Van Niel
John Darling . . . Chase Kelly
Michael Darling . . . Marisa Dinsmoor
Captain Hook/Mr. Darling . . . Erik Stein*
Mrs. Darling . . . Elizabeth Stuart*
Nana . . . Anne Guynn
Liza/Crocodile . . . Clare Lopez
Jane . . . Alexandra Medina
Smee . . . Peter S. Hadres*
Cecco . . . Casey Kooyman
Starkey . . . Michael Jenkinson*
Mullins . . . Evans Eden Jarnefeldt
Noodler . . . Megan C.C. Walker
Jukes . . . Garrett Patrick Marshall
Cookson . . . Sabrina Cavalletto
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Curly
Tootles
Nibs
Twin 1
Twin 2
Tiger Lily
Great Big Little Panther
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Indians
...
Kangaroo . . .
Ostrich . . .
Figurehead . . .
*Member, Actors' Equity Association
Jorden Angel
Michael Marlen-Starr
Alisa Marie Taylor
John Keating
Logan Heller
Ozioma Akagha
Brendan Cataldo
Keith Beverly, Cody Craven,
Michael Schell, Marnie
Knight, Rachel Tietz, Sydney
Weir
Amaris Taylor
Katrina McGraw
Melody Perera
Jillian Van Niel as Wendy, Natasha Harris as Peter Pan, Chase Kelly as John Darling, and Marisa
Dinsmoor as Michael Darling (standing on bed)
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HOW TO USE THIS STUDY GUIDE
The Study Guide is a companion piece designed to explore many ideas depicted in the stage production
of Peter Pan. Although the guide's intent is to enhance the student's theatrical experience, it can also be used as
an introduction to the elements of a play (in this case a play with music), and the production elements involved
in the play's presentation. Although many students are familiar with the general storyline, this specific stage
adaptation presents a wealth of new questions for this generation to answer. The guide has been organized into
three major sections:
Elements of the story
Elements of production
Activities
Teachers and group leaders will want to select portions of the guide for their specific usage. Discussion
questions are meant to provoke a line of thought about a particular topic. The answers to the discussion
questions in many instances will initiate the process of exploration and discovery of varied interpretations by
everyone involved. This can be as rewarding as the wonderful experience of sight and sound that Peter Pan
creates on-stage.
It
is recommended that the James M. Barrie book, available in paperback at local libraries or book stores, be used
in conjunction with discussion of the the play.
Natasha Harris as Peter Pan and the Darling Children
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ELEMENTS OF THE STORY
PLAY SYNOPSIS
Act I
The Darling Nursery
As Mr. and Mrs. Darling prepare for an evening out, two of their children, Wendy and John, play their parents.
When Mrs. Darling comes in and sees Michael is left out, she gets him in the game and joins in with all of them ("1, 2, 3")
while their nursemaid, the dog Nana, watches. Mr. Darling comes in to have his tie tied, and he questions using a dog as a
nursemaid, but Mrs. Darling defends her. The previous week, while the children slept, Nana was surprised to see a boy in
the room. Before she could catch him, he flew out the window. She did manage to catch his shadow, however, which Mrs.
Darling has tucked away in a drawer. Nevertheless, Mr. Darling insists that Nana spend the night downstairs. Mrs. Darling
and the children sing a lullaby ("Tender Shepherd").
The children fall asleep. A fairy, Tinker Bell,
and Peter Pan fly in through the window. Tinker Bell shows Peter where his shadow is hidden. He tries to reattach it and
starts to cry when he can not get it to stick. Wendy wakes up and asks, "Boy, why are you crying?" When he explains, she
offers to sew his shadow to his foot. Peter is thrilled when his shadow is reattached ("I've Gotta Crow"). Peter tells Wendy
about how he has lived a long time among the fairies, and how one of them dies every time a child says he or she does not
believe in fairies. Peter tries to introduce Wendy to Tinkerbell (who accidentally got shut in the drawer when Peter found
his shadow), but Tink is jealous and will not be polite. Wendy asks where he comes from, and Peter tells her of his island,
called Neverland ("Never Never Land"). Peter says he sometimes came to Wendy's window to listen to her mother's
stories and tells them to the Lost Boys, forgotten children who end up living in Neverland; Wendy says she will tell him
and the Lost Boys all the stories she knows, if Peter will let her bring Michael and John along, to which Peter agrees.
Wendy wakes her brothers up, and Peter invites them all to Neverland, and promises to teach them to fly. They happily
agree and ask Peter to show them. Peter happily launches himself into the air ("I'm Flying").
Peter covers
the kids in fairy dust and tells them to "think lovely thoughts." Soon the children are flying just like Peter. ("I'm Flying Reprise") Grabbing some belongings, the children follow Peter and fly through the night to Neverland.
Erik Stein as Captain Hook
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Act II
Never Land
Peter's "Lost Boys" are standing outside their underground lair, wondering when he will return, when they hear
Captain Hook and his pirates ("Pirate Song"). The boys hide; one of them runs into a pirate who chases him, but Hook
stops him, trying to keep his men quiet, in fear of an Indian ambush. Hook sends his men to search for all the Boys, and
tells Smee, his right-hand man, that he wants to kill Peter most of all, because Peter is the one who cut off his hand and
threw it to a crocodile, which has developed a taste for Hook and follows him around, hoping to eat more of him, but
luckily ate a clock that ticks and will alert Hook to its presence. Hook accidentally stumbles upon the entrance to the
hideout, and summons Smee and his men to provide background music while he plans the Boys' demise ("Hook's
Tango"), a rich cake with poisonous icing.
Hook suddenly hears a loud tick-tock; the crocodile appears but Hook escapes. The pirates flee, and the Boys
reappear, thinking they are safe. Suddenly, a group of "Indians" appears, led by Tiger Lily ("Indians"). They leave the
Boys alone, and go on hunting the pirates.
However, Slightly accidentally bumps into an Indian who picks him up and tries to carry him off. The Boys and
the Indians have a tug-of-war over Slightly, but everyone stops when the Boys see Wendy, whom they confuse for a bird,
in the sky, and one of the Boys fires an arrow (the Indians run away in fear). Peter, Michael and John land to find the
arrow lodged in her heart. She is not dead, but she can not be moved into the hideout, so the Lost Boys build a house
around her, hoping that she will agree to be their mother ("Wendy"), to which, when she wakes up, she agrees. Hook
plants the cake, but Wendy thinks it too rich; instead, she will tell the Boys stories. Hook is infuriated that the Boys have
found a mother. He plots to kidnap Wendy and the Boys, while Smee and the pirates play a "Tarantella".
A few days pass with everyone having adventures. One day in the forest, after Peter leads the Boys in their
anthem ("I Won't Grow Up"), they almost run into the pirates, who arrive with a pirate carrying Tiger Lily over his
shoulder and ties her to a tree for the wolves. Peter throws his voice in mimicry of the Captain and convinces the men to
let her go. Hook arrives and becomes enraged at the news of her release. He demands that the "spirit of the forest" speak
to him, so Peter tricks them all to think he is Hook, and the real Hook is a codfish. The pirates abandon Hook, but Hook
convinces the "spirit" to reveal its true identity. Peter obliges, disguising himself as a "beautiful lady" ("Oh, My
Mysterious Lady"). Hook catches on and tries to ambush Peter (and the pirates rejoin), but the pirates are chased away by
Tiger Lily and her Indians.
Back at the hideout, Tiger Lily and the Indians rush in, and are almost shot by the Boys, until Peter reveals the
truce between them. Tiger Lily and her Indians leave to stand guard around the house above. Wendy asks Peter to sing
the Boys a lullaby ("Distant Melody"). Michael and John want to return home, and Wendy admits to being homesick, too.
The Boys wish they had parents, and Wendy offers hers to all of them. Everyone is excited about being adopted, except
Peter, who says he will not go. Wendy tells him she will come back once a year to do his spring cleaning.
The pirates attack and subdue the Indians. They give Peter a fake all-clear signal, so Peter sadly sends Wendy, her
brothers, and the Lost Boys on their way. Before she leaves, Wendy sets out Peter's "medicine" for him to take before bed.
As they leave the underground house, each boy is gagged and lifted onto the shoulders of a pirate and carried to Hook's
ship, the Jolly Roger, where the Boys will be made to walk the plank, and Wendy will be forced to become the pirates'
mother. Once the boys and Wendy are carried off, Hook sneaks into the lair and poisons Peter's medicine. Tinker Bell tells
Peter of the ambush and tries to tell of the poison, but he waves her off as he prepares for a rescue. Desperate, she drinks
the poison herself. Dying, she tells Peter that if every boy and girl who believes in fairies would clap their hands, she
would live. Peter asks the audience to believe and clap their hands. They do, and Tinker Bell is saved. Peter grabs his
sword and heads off to rescue Wendy and the Boys.
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Act III
The Jolly Roger
Hook revels in his success ("Hook's Waltz"). Hook breaks the fourth wall himself and tells how he hates that
children are made to hate him and love Peter. As the plank is prepared, Hook hears the tick-tock of the crocodile and
panics. It is actually Peter with a clock, and while Hook cowers, Peter and the Boys help the Indians, the animals onto the
ship and hide. Peter hides in a closet and kills two pirates Hook sends in. The pirates then carry the Boys in, and the Boys
pretend to be afraid as they are carried in. Peter disguises himself as a pirate, and the pirates think the "doodle-doo"
(named so as Peter still crows after killing the pirates) killed all the Boys. Hook believes the ship is now cursed, and
everyone thinks Wendy is the source. The pirates push Wendy to the plank. Peter ditches his disguise, and the Indians and
animals attack, as well as the Boys who are alive and armed. The pirates are all defeated, and Peter challenges Hook to a
duel to the death, and defeats him. Hook threatens to blow the ship with a bomb, but runs into the real crocodile (who
Peter also brought on the ship). Peter catches the dropped bomb and tosses it in the sea after Hook slides down the plank
with the crocodile chasing behind him. Everyone sings Peter's praises ("I've Gotta Crow" (reprise)). Before the Darling
children and everyone goes to London.
Back home, the Darlings sit by the nursery window night after
night, hoping for their children to return. The children silently reappear and sing to their mother ("Tender Shepherd"
reprise). Joyous over their return, the Darlings happily agree to adopt the Lost Boys ("We Will Grow Up"). Wendy prays
to the window that Peter will return to her.
Years pass, and Peter comes to the nursery,
surprising a much older Wendy, who no longer expected him. He wants her to come to Never Land for spring cleaning,
but she tells him that she cannot - she has grown up; she is married and has a daughter of her own now, Jane. Peter begins
to cry, and Wendy leaves the room at the sound of her husband's offstage voice. Jane awakes, and like her mother before
her, asks, "Boy, why are you crying?" Peter introduces himself, but Jane knows all about him from her mother's stories.
She has been waiting for him to come take her to Never Land and to learn to fly. Peter, now happy again, throws fairy
dust on her, but as they are about to leave, Wendy tries to stop them, saying, "Oh, if only I could go with you!" In the
most poignant moment of the show, Peter answers with a sad but understanding smile, "You can't. You see, Wendy,
you're too grown up". And so, Wendy reluctantly lets Jane go, "just for spring cleaning." Her daughter and the "boy who
refuses to grow up" fly off into the night. ("Finale: Never Never Land - Reprise").
Erik Stein* as Captain Hook and Natasha Harris as Peter Pan
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Notes About The Play – Peter Pan
Peter Pan first appeared as a character in a 1902 adult novel, The Little White Bird,
by one of Victorian London’s leading authors, James Matthew Barrie. In 1904,
Barrie transformed that chapter into a brilliant and technically inventive new work
for the stage, Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up. Originally scheduled
to open prior to Christmas, contractual conflicts delayed the premiere until
December 27. Once open, the play was a hit. In fact, it was so successful that
Barrie’s publishers, Hodder and Stoughton, excerpted several chapters from the
novel and reprinted them with exquisite illustrations by Arthur Rackham as Peter
Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906). Barrie expanded the work even further by a
novelization of his play initially entitled Peter and Wendy (1911).
While Barrie’s stage play was truly “a play with music,” the full musical wasn’t
created until 1954. Throughout Britain, Peter Pan played as a leading “panto” or
Pantomime. That holiday tradition allowed for cross-gender casting, vaudevillian
style, and much music and dance. But after Edwin Lester acquired the American
rights, the director/choreographer Jerome Robbins hired lyricist Betty Comden and
Adolph Green, as well as composer Jule Styne, to hone and craft this vehicle for
star Mary Martin. In addition to the creation of such hits as “Never Never Land “
and “I Won’t Grow Up,” this adaptation featured a re-crafted ending based on
Barrie’s “ An Afterthought.” This new finale celebrated Peter Pan’s return to
Wendy after 20 years, just in time to enchant her daughter Jane and take her off to
spring cleaning in NeverLand.
This musical version and various adaptations have continued the popularity of Peter
Pan on stage and television screen since 1954. The recent Broadway revivals has
included a 1979 Tony-nominated production starring Sandy Duncan and
1990,1998-9 and 2000 productions all starring former Olympic gymnast Cathy
Rigby. Rigby was awarded a Tony in 1998 for her performance. Peter Pan has also
made it to the silver screen in various film adaptations including Hook (1991) and
Peter Pan (2003) and perhaps most famously in an animated feature from Walt
Disney Studios in 1953.
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About The Author - James M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, baronet and recipient of the Order of Merit, was born in
Kirriemuir, Scotland in 1860. The ninth of ten children, Barrie and his family were
Calvinist weavers determined to combine hard work, resourcefulness, and education
to change their fate and their economic situation. While all the children were
educated at home, in public and private schools and academies, they were a rare
breed who found education a path to professions, such as teacher and minister, not
previously open to the working class.
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A small unremarkable child (and only 5 feet 3 inches tall as an adult), Barrie’s
family life changed at age 6 when his next older brother, David died in an iceskating accident. The loss of her favorite son, devastated Margaret Ogilvy Barrie,
and James tried to fill the gap with entertaining stories and pretending to be David.
And at the age of 8, he went off to the Glasgow Academy to be taught by his oldest
siblings. In and out of several private academies, James was never a great scholar
and certainly never destined to be the clergyman that his mother envisioned.
After great arguments in and out of the family, James embarked on a journalist
career with a stint as a reporter in Nottingham, England and then a budding career
in the London Journals. He established his reputation as a gifted craftsman of
“Scotch things” – stories and editorials on life in older times of Scotland. While the
critics harped on his nostalgic style and his sentimentality, he was a hit. From
stories, he graduated to novels about “Tommy” – a young man who clings to
childish fantasies with tragic results.
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In addition to his print work, James had discovered the attractions of the London
stage exploring with biographies and parodies before the back-to-back successes of
Quality Street (1901) and The Admirable Crichton (1902). He also travelled in the
best of literary circles, numbering George Bernard Shaw, Robert Louis Stevenson,
and George Meredith among his friends. He even created his own cricket club (The
Allahakbarries – named after what Barrie thought was Arabic for “heaven help us”.)
In 1891, he married Mary Ansell, a beautiful young actress; despite the initial
attraction, the domestic dynamic was unsuccessful for both and Mary began an
affair with Gilbert Canaan in 1908 and Barrie divorced her in 1909. He never
remarried.
While Barrie had introduced the character of Peter Pan in a short story of 1901,
Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, premiered on Dec.27, 1904. It was
a great success and played in constant revivals to the present day. Based in part on
his long-term friendship with the children of Arthur and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies
(George, Jack, Michael, Peter and Nico), Barrie acknowledged that “ I made Peter
by rubbing the five of you violently together, as savages with two sticks produce a
flame. That is all he is, the spark I got from you.” In 1929, Barrie legally
established Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital as the holder of the copyright
to all things Peter Pan. By law, that copyright is still in force for all UK and
Commonwealth productions. While Barrie’s works remained popular, his later
dramatic works focus more on period social concerns.
Barrie died of pneumonia in 1937 and is buried next to his parents in Kirriemuir.
While throughout their lives, he amply supported the Llewelyn Davies boys, he left
the bulk of his estate (save the Peter Pan rights) to his secretary Cynthia Asquith.
Edwin Lester, founder and director of the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, having
secured the American rights to Peter Pan, adapted it as a play with music for Mary
Martin in 1954. The show was less than successful in its pre-Broadway tour, so
director Jerome Robbins hired lyricists Comden and Green and composer Jule
Styne to add more songs, including "Never Never Land," and "Distant Melody."
And by its Broadway debut, the show was a full-scale musical spectacular.
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About The Production
Alexandra Medina as Jane, Natasha Harris as Peter Pan, and
Jillian Van Niel as Grown Up Wendy
PCPA’s 2010 production of Peter Pan delights in the classic story of storytelling.
For audiences old and young, the plot of this charming musical celebrates a belief in
the significance and the value of storytelling. Just as Peter Pan returns to London to
hear the story of Cinderella that Mrs. Darling tells her children -- Wendy, John, and
Michael, so we too return to the theatre to hear new stories and to experience anew
the ones we already love. For the visual world of this play, Set Designer DeAnne
Kennedy, Costume Designer Cheryl Odom and Lighting Designer Jennifer ‘Z’
Zornow with Director Patricia M. Troxel have created both the storybook of Peter
Pan and the worlds that are contained within its covers. Through clever
transformation of set pieces, the use of a sound symphony (in addition to the
familiar and pleasing score), a storybook London landscape, moments of narration
and a vibrant Neverland, this production reminds us of what is joyous and magical
in our imaginations where anything is possible and we can truly find ourselves
“where dreams are born and time is never planned.”
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Erik Stein* as Captain Hook and Natasha Harris as Peter Pan
This production also enthusiastically embraces the magic of childhood; “The Boy
who never grew up” is the child in all of us who is “youth, joy and freedom.” As
Max Beerbohm observed about James Barrie, “He is something more rare – a child
who by some divine grace expresses through an artistic medium the childishness
that is in him.” On the one hand, childhood magic comes to life in the technical
wizardry of flight. PCPA will be working with professional flyers from ZFX to
recapture Barrie’s insight that “all children were once part bird.” And on the other
hand, the magic is revealed through the contrast between a world dominated by
Time (a London nursery in 1910 and later in 1936) and a Neverland that is
“timeless” where one can never grow old. The production team hopes that
audiences will revel in the numerous stage devices through which that distinction is
explored.
This musical adventure also foregrounds the importance of the maternal in our lives.
Barrie repeatedly asks us to consider the power of our desire for a mother’s love,
care and comfort, and how our lives are enhanced by that presence or diminished by
its absence. And from the “chivalry “ and honor, the manners and the grace, that we
learn from great parenting, we can expand our horizons, revive our curiosity, and
find the courage and faith to embrace each of life’s great adventures.
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ELEMENTS OF SCENIC DESIGN
Scenic Designer DeAnne Kennedy created these ¼ inch models to assist the director
and other designers in imagining how the scenic element would enhance telling the
story for Peter Pan.
The Act I Nursery
The Act II Neverland Tree House
The Act III Jolly Roger
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ELEMENTS OF COSTUME DESIGN
Costume Designer Cheryl Odom created the water color renderings to assist the
director and other designers in imagining how the costume element would enhance
telling the story for Peter Pan. The renderings are a very important step in making
sure the costumes are constructed to the designer’s specifications.
Costume rendering of the character Peter Pan by Cheryl Odom
The finished costume design as seen in the production.
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The construction of the Captain Hook coat.
The final Captain Hook Coat as worn in the production.
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Discussion Topics
For Grades 1 – 6
1. What do you think about remaining a child forever and never growing up?
Would you be willing to stay young forever? What things in life would you never
experience if you never grew up?
2. Peter Pan is also about the idea of "play vs. work". At what age do you think we
start to take on more responsibilities? In Peter Pan Wendy takes on the roll of
mother to all the lost boys. Do you think girls are more responsible then boys?
What does Wendy bring into Peter and the Lost Boys' lives? What good qualities?
(i.e. Kindness, Generosity, Organization etc.)
3. Mr. Darling becomes Captain Hook in Neverland. Do you suppose this is
because Mr. Darling is a bit too strict with the children and Nana? What questions
does that make you ask about parents in 1904 when this play was originally
written? Have you ever thought of your parents as “mean” when they are only
doing what is best for you?
4. Neverland is a fantasy world, but it does have its dangers. For example, pirates
and crocodiles. When you play games that require imagination what kinds of
dangers do you incorporate in your games?
5. What do you think about the idea of having a dog baby-sit you like Nana, the
Darling's dog in the story? Have you ever had a pet that you felt took care of you in
ways, too? Do you know pets that care for humans like humans for children?
6. What is it about being able to fly like birds without a plane that is appealing to
humans? Describe how you think it would feel to fly away in the night to another
place far away.
7. Imagine a world without adults in it. What would your life be like living there?
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Activities
For Grades 1 – 6
1. We all have a place like Neverland in our own imaginations. A place where time
stands still and everything is just the way we want it to be. Draw a picture of what
your Neverland looks like as you see it.
2. What would Tinkerbell look like if we could see her? Does she resemble other
characters that we know? Or does she have another worldly shape and color?
Draw what you see when you think of Tinkerbell the Fairy.
Erik Stein as Captain Hook and Peter S. Hadres as Smee
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Activities and Discussion Topics
For Grades 6 - 12
1. Write a sequel to Peter Pan. Tell us what happens when Peter and Jane, Wendy's
daughter fly away to Neverland. Do they a completely different adventure then the
Darling Children had? Does the fact that Jane has been raised 20-30 years after
Peter’s last visit, change the way she reacts to Neverland?
2. Write a biography for your favorite characters in Neverland. Tell us their past.
Where did they live before they arrived in Neverland? What happened to them that
put them in Neverland?
3. James M. Barrie put elements of his own life into Peter Pan. He took a sad
reality and turned it into a fantasy. Using a time in your life that was difficult to get
through, and write a fantasy story where everything goes exactly as you would want
it to.
4. Describe how you think it would feel to fly through the air like Peter Pan. Make
sure you try to use all five senses in your description of the experience! Write it in
the first person and describe it to someone. Maybe it develops into a poem or song.
5. What would be the pros and cons of being able to live forever as a child? Would
you be interested in trying it? Write a short story about one day you spent as a seven
years old again. What was your day like living with the knowledge you know now?
6. James M. Barrie wrote the novel Peter Pan in 1904. Life today for children is
very different then it was in Mr. Barries time. In order to reach a modern audience
in today’s world, how would you adapt the story to fit into a contemporary setting?
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More Activities
For all grades
Improvisation
1. One night, when you are sleeping, a creature flies into your room, awakens you,
and asks you to fly away with him/her to a place where there are no adults! Do you
go? Would you leave a note? Would you wake up your brothers and sisters and
take them along? Would you call and tell your friends you'll be by to pick them
up? Improvise the possibility in a small group.
2. Once in Neverland, Improvise first in small groups as residence of Neverland,
i.e. Lost Boys, Pirates, Indians etc. Then add a new group of modern children from
“the real world” who are new to Neverland. What would a modern kid take to
Neverland? How do the residence of Neverland help the new kids to identify with
their way of life?
3. Break the class up into groups of 3-5 students. Give them 10 minutes to decide
what are the main Five points or events in the story. The group will create tableau
pictures (frozen poses that tell a story) to represent each of their main points. Have
one person narrate the caption of each tableau. Like a living picture book. Have
each group take turns their tableau story and watch each group in turn as they
quickly go from one frame to the next, freezing only ten seconds or so in between
each to let the audience see. This exercise is lots of silly fun, but it quickly lets us
all discuss what we think are the main events or plot points in the play.
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Was this Study Guide Helpful?
It is useful for us to know what was helpful to you as you read and/or used this guide. Please fill out and
mail or e-mail this quick response sheet to us. We appreciate your ideas.
1. Was it easy for you to find and download the Guide?
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2. Did you spend more time working with the material BEFORE or AFTER the play?
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After
Equally Before and After
3. Did using this Study Guide add to your theater experience?
Yes
Some
No
4. What did you use from the Guide?
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5. How did the experience of preparing for and then seeing the play impact your students?
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6. Is there something you would like to see included in the Guide that wasn’t here?
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7. How much of the Guide did you read?
Didn’t have time
Some
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8. Which of the following best describes you?
I teach:
middle school
high school
other
Comments:
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elementary school
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Mail to:
PCPA Theaterfest / Outreach and Education
800 S. College Dr.
Santa Maria CA 93454
Attention: Director, Education and Outreach.
OR email: [email protected]
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