AT THE ROGUE THEATER IN A DELIGHTFUL PREQUEL TO "PETER PAN" WE LEARN THE IMPORTANCE OF NEVER GROWING OLD

By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com

 

photo by Tim Fuller

A trio of lost boys find sanctuary under the care of Molly Aster (Chelsey Jean Smith) in the fanciful "Peter and the Starcatcher."

 

Time to brush up on your “Peter Pan,” so you can properly appreciate the prequel “Peter and the Starcatcher” where Peter, one of the orphaned Lost Boys, first learns to fly, meets a roguish pirate captain and the flitty flash of Tinkerbell while setting the stage for the Rogue Theatre's most charming and delightful production.

Please know that this prequel is not so much a play for children to embrace the unexpected insights of a theatrical experience, as it is a play intended to encourage adults of a certain age to get back in touch with the distant memories of their own childhood.

The “Peter” who is destined to become Peter Pan in his next life is played by Hunter Hnat, a grumpy loner tossed in with two other equally hapless parent-less  London lads.

Cynthia Meier is directing this imagination-stretching fantasy that does not so much tell a story as create an experience eagerly embracing the challenge to encourage long-ago grownups to forget all their adult responsibilities and start fluffing up their own memories of being boys and girls who feel certain their own lives will become full of the most exciting adventures.

As is the Rogue's tradition to stimulate its audience by using mere hints of reality so each person can activate their own mindfulness to fill in the details, Meier creates stuffy British naval officers and their tall masted ships – one named “Neverland” that gets shipwrecked and splits in two. Ensuing incidents provide additional clues to key elements in J.M. Barrie's own beloved classic.

Of course everyone is watching for the sharp-toothed crocodile and that ticking clock. They won't be disappointed.

Playing major supporting roles are Matt Walley as the treacherous pirate leader Black Stache, and Chelsey Jean Smith as the take- charge female, Molly Aster.

A cast of 12 covers 16 roles, filling out essential brush strokes to the story's pecking order and other customs of England's male-dominated nineteenth century society.

Here's one tip, don't be late to take your seat for Act Two. It opens with a chorus line of mermaids flipping the bright colors of their fluorescent tails. You don't want to miss that.

“Peter and the Starcatcher” plays through Feb. 1 in The Rogue Theatre at the Historic Y, 300 E. University Blvd., running two hours 20 minutes including a 10-minute intermission. For details and reservations, visit www.theroguetheatre.org