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Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers
by Michael Lluberes
Type of Show
Performance Type
Acts
Duration
Performing Groups
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Overview
Fun fact. J.M. Barrie created this name as a working title for Peter Pan. Playwright Michael Lluberes has adapted this piece to its authentically dark roots, so buckle up.
Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers takes audiences on a fantastical exploration of the fears of growing up and the power of the human imagination. This visceral new adaptation works from the original source materials to craft a darker, scarier, and more dimensional version of Peter Pan for a modern audience.
“Wonderful. …Lluberes has stripped off the Disney and Broadway varnishes to restore Barrie's unique voice and his great subject, the horror of growing up. …Fresh and utterly persuasive. …Delicate, deeply human portrayals. …The show captures the intertwined magic and terror of childhood.”
“Imagination, ingenuity, exuberance and the spirit of make‐believe transcend literal reality, and the result is sweet, touching and magical.”
“Theatrical magic. …Finds new shades and facets to J. M. Barrie’s classic story. …Simply marvelous. …Offers innumerable pleasures and rewards.”
*Kennedy Center Page To Stage Festival Reading
*No Rules Theatre Company Production (World Premiere)
*The Blank Theatre Production (West Coast Premiere)
*BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Theater Award Best Play
*4 LA Weekly Theater Award Nominations including Best Production
Plot
This new version of Peter Pan is a beautiful allegory about the pain and inevitability of growing up. All of the characters and plot lines we know so well are still present, now imbued with the darker mysteries buried deep inside J.M. Barrie's masterpiece.
Casting
4m/3f
Male Principals
1
Supporting Males
3
Female Principals
2
Supporting Females
1
PETER PAN
PrincipalHaunting, otherworldly. Ageless magical boy. Physical, spontaneous. He still has his baby teeth, his first laugh. Aggressive, manic, emotional, impulsive, seductive. Has a strange power that draws everyone to him.
WENDY DARLING/JANE
Principal[WENDY] Accent: RP British. Age 12. The heart of the play. At the edge of childhood, going through the beginning stages of puberty. Clever. Her mind and body are changing a lot. Also plays [JANE] Accent: RP British. Age 10. Wendy’s daughter. Curious and brave.
MRS. DARLING/CAPTAIN HOOK/ADULT WENDY
Principal[MRS. DARLING] Accent: RP British. Mother of the Darling children. She used to be warm, graceful; the embodiment of motherhood but is so distraught by the death of her baby she’s not able to function. Also plays [HOOK] Accent: RP British. The greatest villain ever. Scary, elegant, mysterious, cold, theatrical, oily, bloodthirsty. The embodiment of a child’s nightmare. Something of the Grand Guignol about him. Noel Coward mixed with Adolph Hitler. Also plays [ADULT WENDY] Accent: RP British. “She was not a little girl heart-broken about him; she was a grown woman smiling at it all, but they were wet smiles.”
JOHN DARLING
SupportingAccent: RP British. Age 10. Delicate, hypersensitive, highly intelligent, in danger of growing up to be the stereotypical buttoned up Englishman.
TOOTLES/SMEE
SupportingAccent: RP British. Lost boy. Could be chubby, small or round. Sensitive, funny, sweet, melancholic, soft, “poor kind Tootles, humblest of the boys. Quite the silliest one”. Obsessed with mothers. The baby of the Lost Boys. Also plays [SMEE] Accent: Cockney. Tootles’ shadow. Hook’s right hand
man. Not cute and cuddly. He helps Hook murder children. Hook and Smee are like an old married couple. Has a mean streak as well.
NIBS/BILL JUKES/TIGER LILY
Supporting[NIBS] Accent: Northern Country. Lost boy. Strange. He has a special relationship with Tinker Bell, whom he communicates with her for the others. Lots of secrets. Also plays [BILL JUKES] Pirate. Nib’s shadow. Also plays [TIGER LILY] Young Indian princess of her tribe. Beautiful, brave, proud, strong.
SLIGHTLY/STARKEY
Supporting[SLIGHTLY] Accent: London Cockney. Lost boy. Know it all. A comedian. An improviser. Artful Dodger. A little conman. A chameleon. Scrappy. Funny. Also plays [STARKEY] Pirate. Slightly’s shadow.
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