Breaking Character: Commentators have long noted the dark undercurrents of Peter Pan: the boy who wouldn’t grow up, whose shadow is cut from his body, the island of lost boys, the Freudian pairing of Father with Dr. Hook, the death and resurrection of Tinker Bell. Of course these dark elements are more than matched by Peter Pan’s underlying quest for transfiguration. Taken together, these qualities make Peter Pan a natural subject of interest to Sarah Ruhl, even had she not grown up hearing of her mother talk about playing the title role in the Davenport, Iowa community theater production of it.
1 comment:
This is a really exciting thing to hear about. The idea that we leave school and go to do the one thing in one company for the rest of our lives is dramatic, but it’s a big fear of mine. As far as I can tell, the people that I have met that seem happiest and most successful in their lives are the ones who spend their lives continuing to search for information and new experiences, and it sounds like the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre is doing exactly that. All of the dancers seem so excited to experience the other side. They are all so used to being a part of the image in the choreographers head, and I feel like being on that side allows their artistic reach to expand because they have so much physical familiarity with the shapes, lines, and movements they can string together to create a really powerful image. I also really enjoy that the dancers are experimenting past the norm, such as the contemporary piece done in pointe shoes. Orr said it perfectly when he hoped that the audience will begin to see the dancers as creators in their own right.
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