Monday, September 02, 2024
Wendy and Peter Pan explores the power of love — and grief
Intermission Magazine: Thirsting for some magic and adventure? Look no further — Ella Hickson’s Wendy and Peter Pan has landed at the Avon Theatre for its North American debut.
Although many are more familiar with the story of the boy who never grew up, his merry band of Lost Boys, and the evil Captain Hook, Wendy and Peter Pan follows the emotional growth of the riveting Wendy Darling, played by Cynthia Jimenez-Hicks, throughout her journey in Neverland.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I love Jimenez-Hicks’s point that this play explores themes of sadness and depression in a way that is accessible for young children, without having to go deeply into clinical terms. Kids need an outlet to understand and talk about their feelings and mental health, and seeing that in their favorite characters can help. I also think it’s interesting that this adaptation is examining and questioning Wendy’s role as a mother figure to Peter and the Lost Boys––especially because that’s such a big part of the story and the whole reason Peter invites her along. That whole dynamic has always struck me as quite odd. I’m curious what Wendy’s journey is in this piece and, aside from the themes of grief, how else they have fleshed out her character. I love to see adaptations get creative and engage in some level of conversation with the source material.
One of my first theater loives was Finding Neverland which tells the story of how Peter Pan was made also touching on grief and loss much like Peter Pan and Wendy. As a kid experiencing many of these emotions for the first time it was refreshing to see characters my age (or that appear to be my age) go through things that I had been going through. Hearing the premise of this show was something I found very interesting. Peter pan is often a medium the allows adults to look at deep and complex topics in a "childish" was. Honestly, this play sounds incredible interesting and I wish I was in opposition to see it. I did watch the new disney movie Peter Pan and Wendy in hopes that it followed the same premise but was unfortunately disappointed. I hope that this adaptation becomes more popular so one day I will be able to see yet another adaptation of one of my favorite childhood stories.
Post a Comment