Barrie's Peter Pan still flies 101 years later at BCT - By N.L. Belardes
Upon arriving at the Bakersfield Community Theatre I saw a lot of kids battling with wooden swords and instantly thought, “I want one of those swashbuckling weapons! I want to fight with these swashbucklers, Indians, pirates, fluffy frogs, Lost Boys and flittering pixies with my own grand wooden sword!” Oh, but then their swords were taken away. Such prudish theatre folk so glumly not wanting any child’s eyes to get poked out olives propped on the tips of toothpicks, or a bloody gash on the noggin’, or to tear a fluffy kitty costume… for shame! These are the things we children are never concerned with. But then that did cost me a scar or two as a reckless wooden-sword wielding youth…
Youth however was still regained. I watched kids wrestle on the theatre lawn and run about like they really were innocent pirates and lost children on the banks of Neverland streams. There, in that far away place, imaginations are a reality of childish perspectives of grown-up needs and candy-coated desires. The overly grouchy parental Captain Hook, oh how dastardly and comical he was in the Disney version, just how would he appear in Aaron Maudlin’s direction of James Barrie’s 1904 classic, Peter Pan? And that immortal Peter Pan, that misfit lonely child-immortal and swashbuckler supreme, who would play such a wondrous lad? I was on a mission to find out…
The weather was terrible. The day had run as hot as a Bakersfield summer could be, and worse because of a slight humidity that has been uncanny for the urban sprawl of the Southern San Joaquin. The children didn’t seem to mind though as I saw adults fanning themselves among the aisles. In the seats sat many kids from the Boys and Girls club. They all appeared genuinely interested in the goings on, though they seemed as hot as I was…
There in the red curtained theatre show host, Aaron Maudlin, came out and greeted the audience with the usual, “Turn off thy cell phones” speech. He thanked the contributors, the donations from charitable businesses and was genuinely proud that Peter Pan would literally fly. Of course as he spoke I moved up to the front of the theatre. What else could I ask for but the best seat in the house? I wanted to see Peter fly…
The play began in as quaint a setting you would expect. The actors all spoke in contrived British accents. They stood in their pajamas in a giant cartoony bedroom and argued with their father who seemed as annoyed with the family dog, Nana, as the rest of us were with the poor air conditioning in the sweltering theatre. Nana of course let out a whiny howl of a bark that was as hilarious as it was sad. Such a punished pup given medicine and dragged out to be tied to a lonely tree…
And then there were the children with their tidy British accents, their wondrous speech of wanting fairness, and adventure that only Peter could truly solve.
The acting? It was delightful. The music? Delightful as well, but from a soundtrack and was best used in between acts when the curtains closed and kids ran across the stage. The music was magical and seeing kids in costumes of colorful frogs, birds, cats, faeries, and more made me remember when my own kids were so small. It was a touching moment repeated several times throughout the night.
I was only planning on watching half the play. But I had been mesmerized. Captain Cooke’s sidekick, Mr. Smee handed out refreshments and I saw Aaron Maudlin who said, “Don’t miss the sword battle between Hook and Peter.” And yes, I had been mesmerized: the imagination, the reminding that I am not unlike Barrie, a writer with a boyish imagination for the whimsical, just a kid as well and would have been just as suited to hop across the Bakersfield Community Theatre stage in a frog costume, or to don the hook costume which was a magnificent as the actor’s portrayal of such a piraty buffoon, or even a Lost Boy sword...
And yes, there was a flying Peter Pan, portrayed by a lovely young lady who sometimes spoke in a whisper. But then, Peter Pan is such a whispering character, whooshing through scenes and in a confidence and sometimes self doubt, as Peter is truly only caring about an infinite childhood and fairness in Neverland—a child’s view of fairness I should add.
So wonderful—the bubble-blowing mermaids and the fake water; so wonderful the silliness of Hook’s not-so-faithful sidekick, Mr. Smee, whose blundering and zaniness I heard one audience member say, “Stole the show.”
There is so much more to see and the actors and actresses are a delight. Please go watch this show... the end is a treat, such a great swordfight as here I will only give you a glimpse:
Title: Peter Pan
Where:: Bakersfield Community Theater
Address: 2400 South Chester Avenue
When: July 15, 16, 22, 23 @ 7PM; Matinees July 16, 17, 23, 24 @ 2PM
Cost: $5 Adults, $3 Children
Details: A fantasy in 5 Acts by J.M. Barrie. Visit http://www.bakersfieldcommunitytheatre.org/nowplaying.htm for full information.
Youth however was still regained. I watched kids wrestle on the theatre lawn and run about like they really were innocent pirates and lost children on the banks of Neverland streams. There, in that far away place, imaginations are a reality of childish perspectives of grown-up needs and candy-coated desires. The overly grouchy parental Captain Hook, oh how dastardly and comical he was in the Disney version, just how would he appear in Aaron Maudlin’s direction of James Barrie’s 1904 classic, Peter Pan? And that immortal Peter Pan, that misfit lonely child-immortal and swashbuckler supreme, who would play such a wondrous lad? I was on a mission to find out…
The weather was terrible. The day had run as hot as a Bakersfield summer could be, and worse because of a slight humidity that has been uncanny for the urban sprawl of the Southern San Joaquin. The children didn’t seem to mind though as I saw adults fanning themselves among the aisles. In the seats sat many kids from the Boys and Girls club. They all appeared genuinely interested in the goings on, though they seemed as hot as I was…
There in the red curtained theatre show host, Aaron Maudlin, came out and greeted the audience with the usual, “Turn off thy cell phones” speech. He thanked the contributors, the donations from charitable businesses and was genuinely proud that Peter Pan would literally fly. Of course as he spoke I moved up to the front of the theatre. What else could I ask for but the best seat in the house? I wanted to see Peter fly…
The play began in as quaint a setting you would expect. The actors all spoke in contrived British accents. They stood in their pajamas in a giant cartoony bedroom and argued with their father who seemed as annoyed with the family dog, Nana, as the rest of us were with the poor air conditioning in the sweltering theatre. Nana of course let out a whiny howl of a bark that was as hilarious as it was sad. Such a punished pup given medicine and dragged out to be tied to a lonely tree…
And then there were the children with their tidy British accents, their wondrous speech of wanting fairness, and adventure that only Peter could truly solve.
The acting? It was delightful. The music? Delightful as well, but from a soundtrack and was best used in between acts when the curtains closed and kids ran across the stage. The music was magical and seeing kids in costumes of colorful frogs, birds, cats, faeries, and more made me remember when my own kids were so small. It was a touching moment repeated several times throughout the night.
I was only planning on watching half the play. But I had been mesmerized. Captain Cooke’s sidekick, Mr. Smee handed out refreshments and I saw Aaron Maudlin who said, “Don’t miss the sword battle between Hook and Peter.” And yes, I had been mesmerized: the imagination, the reminding that I am not unlike Barrie, a writer with a boyish imagination for the whimsical, just a kid as well and would have been just as suited to hop across the Bakersfield Community Theatre stage in a frog costume, or to don the hook costume which was a magnificent as the actor’s portrayal of such a piraty buffoon, or even a Lost Boy sword...
And yes, there was a flying Peter Pan, portrayed by a lovely young lady who sometimes spoke in a whisper. But then, Peter Pan is such a whispering character, whooshing through scenes and in a confidence and sometimes self doubt, as Peter is truly only caring about an infinite childhood and fairness in Neverland—a child’s view of fairness I should add.
So wonderful—the bubble-blowing mermaids and the fake water; so wonderful the silliness of Hook’s not-so-faithful sidekick, Mr. Smee, whose blundering and zaniness I heard one audience member say, “Stole the show.”
There is so much more to see and the actors and actresses are a delight. Please go watch this show... the end is a treat, such a great swordfight as here I will only give you a glimpse:
Title: Peter Pan
Where:: Bakersfield Community Theater
Address: 2400 South Chester Avenue
When: July 15, 16, 22, 23 @ 7PM; Matinees July 16, 17, 23, 24 @ 2PM
Cost: $5 Adults, $3 Children
Details: A fantasy in 5 Acts by J.M. Barrie. Visit http://www.bakersfieldcommunitytheatre.org/nowplaying.htm for full information.
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Saturday, July 16, 2005.
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