It is quite possible that no other modern children's tale is as visited and revisited as J. M. Barrie's "Peter Pan". Barrie himself wrote a version for the stage that was notoriously complex and well received not long after the turn of the 20th Century. Discounting the predictably racist Disney cartoon version, I have only seen two other iterations of this work. One composed for and preformed by the Washington Ballet by its former director Septime Webre, and the other at Synetic Theatre in Arlington, VA. Both were wordless and highly stylized. Both were wonderful. Neither was as challenging as this one. Additionally, I have never seen the Broadway version, though I understand that a video of it exists. However, after experiencing Lynn Gunderson's Feminist, Nativist take on the old tale, I think I would find that production problematic on a whole a new level.
But first, let us step back a bit.Looking across my matinee audience today, and milling about with them in the lobby before the show, I would say that almost 50% were children and teens. 60-70% of those were girls. I saw a lot of mom's and more than a few grandmom's. One thing you should know about the Shakespeare Theater Company of DC, it's not cheap. And while I had a very nice seat, it was in the cheapest section @ $77! Looking around me at family groups with between 4 and 8 members, and most of them in the section in front of my seat where the per seat prices were as much as $134! and the under 14 discount $69!--I figured one group of 9 with four adults/kids over 14 and 5 under who where sitting two rows in front of me could have easily paid just under $900 for the opportunity. And STC does not generally give out discounts. I mention this because the audience had a certain ambiance commiserate with the cost. 1) I didn't see a single person of color (who wasn't performing on stage). 2) Costumes were a mix of high-preppy to Blue-haired Sunday attire. And 3) there was a lot of blue hair in the crowd. I was dressed nicely, but I hadn't bothered to shave...since Sunday last. I must looked like I wandered in off the street. The blue-haired woman who sat on my right, literally got up and relocated before the show began! :P (Left the armrest for me! <3 )
The point of these observations will be become clear presently.
So, what has Lynn Gunderson done to our beloved, over-analyzed, 19th century fairy tale fraught with the stench of racism, imperialism, latent misogyny and something I will simple call the "Michael Jackson syndrome"? In a phrase: "Girl POWER."--which is also a line from the show. Wendy can't stop talking about Marie Curie and her Nobel Prize, she wants a STEM career and opposes her parents' plans to send her to a proper "finishing" school. Tiger Lily hates Peter Pan as much as she does Captain Hook, opens the second act with a long diatribe about how her people were on the island first and it's not a haven for recalcitrant boys or adolescent pirates! A speech that comes as no surprise given her actions in Act One. Peter Pan is forced to relinquish his delusions and assigned the minor roll of controlling the Mermaid's habit of drowning children, and Hook...well, somethings don't change. Hook get eaten by Jerome the enormous crocodile with impeccable timing--tic toc tic toc.
If there were a complaint, it's a bit preachy. But consider the source, I am a white man. As to the blue-haired locals...hmmm. No sooner had the lights come up at intermission than the grown daughter of the aqua-tinted grandmother sitting on my left turned and looking past the two little girls in pink and yellow dresses with white stockings and black patent-leather shoes, said to her, "You don't like it, do you mother?"
The grandmother said, "Mmmmmm...."
"I know," continued the daughter, "it's just not what you thought it was going to be."
"Well..." She started.
"It's not as fun." interrupted the daughter. "It's beautiful. It's just lacking something...or maybe it's just too serious."
Oh my, me thinks she doth project too much! But she was absolutely right about this: IT IS BEAUTIFUL. The sets are dazzling and the costumes sumptuous. The acting also delightful. Dispensing with the fact that the dog stole the moment every time he walked out on stage--c'mon, you've got 125+ little girls in the theater, he was a shoe (paw?) in for audience favorite.
By singling out three performers in particular, I am not throwing any aspersions on any of the others. Jenni Barber in the duel roles of Mrs. Darling & Tinkerbell was so wonderful, you would have thought that the roles were played by two different people. In her gorgeous gowns she gave us the quintessential Edwardian aristocrat, and as Tinker Bell, she could have been a member of the Housewives of New Jersey! Derek Smith as both Mr. Darling & Captain Hook was likewise pitch perfect in both. And likewise you could not have been faulted if you thought each role was played by a completely different person. Finally, my heart went out to Justin Mark as Peter Pan. Gunderson has written this classic protagonist into a space that is both the timeless young rebel with a cause, and a delinquent suddenly thrust into a most unexpected social awakening. Mr. Mark found the flight path that gave us a Peter Pan completely able to embrace the former while accepting the later and never loosing his adolescent innocence. He also gave us flight that was so effortless controlled by his unassuming, yet amazing physicality. I think this aspect of his performance may too easily go unrecognized; however, I've never seen anyone navigate a harness as seamlessly as he did.
This play may have given some in the audience indigestion. I, however, ended the meal both sated and content.
No comments:
Post a Comment