Ever watched “Peter Pan” and wondered how he learned to fly, where Neverland was located, how Captain Hook and Peter Pan became enemies, or why that crocodile in the Disney cartoon sounded like a ticking clock?
Mark your calendar for June 13-15 and see “Peter and the Starcatcher” to find out the answers to those questions and more.
“This is a prequel,” said Christina DeCarlo, who is directing the Augusta Junior Players cast in the production. “It debuted on Broadway about 10 years ago. What’s so great about it is that it answers a lot of questions.”
Bringing the story to life is an enthusiastic bunch of 13-19-year-olds who each play multiple roles from pirates and mermaids to doors and hallways.
“They all jump in with such a passion for theater and a passion for the story,” she said.
Most of them had never heard of the prequel although they were all familiar with the story of the boy who would never grow up.
Playing the role of Peter is Lucas Patterson, who graduated from John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School last week. He grew up watching the live-action TV version of “Peter Pan” from 2000.
“I used to watch that after school whenever I could,” he said. “It was so much fun. It really just showed me what freedom could look like. I thought it would be cool being able to be free with no adult supervision. That was the dream back then.”
Patterson is finding a degree of freedom in his portrayal of Peter.
“He starts out as an orphan boy. He doesn’t have the courage or bravery we see in the Peter Pan movies,” he said. “I wanted to bring in that scared boy who doesn’t know himself yet. Towards the end as he adds friendships, and as he becomes more true to himself, he’s able to get into the Peter Pan we all know and love.”
“Peter and the Starcatcher” will be staged at 7 p.m. June 13-14 and at 2 p.m. June 15 at Davidson’s Beverly Barnhart Theatre. Tickets are$15-$22 and are available here.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for 35 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
