The first appearance of the now classic storybook character Peter Pan was in J.M. Barrie's 1904 novel "The Little White Bird," a book meant for adults. In his subsequent incarnations, Peter became not only more famous but also more kid-friendly. In "Peter and Wendy," the experimental theater group Mabou Mines returns the tale to its more grown-up roots with a production that manages to inspire a childlike sense of wonder in those big or small.
"Have you ever seen a map of a mind? It is always more or less an island. Your own can be intensely interesting," Barrie wrote in his 1911 novel "Peter and Wendy." Mabou Mines' script was adapted exclusively from that novel by Liza Lorwin and re-creates Barrie's island of the imagination both visually and aurally, through puppetry, narration, and music. The show was created for Spoleto Festival USA in 1996; it has played the New Victory Theater twice, in 1997 and 2002; and director Lee Breuer brings the same spirit and showmanship to this production after more than a decade of touring.
Breuer and master puppeteer Basil Twist—whose work has been seen on Broadway in "The Addams Family" and "The Pee-wee Herman Show"—have led a team of six to create a visually stunning spectacle incorporating Indonesian Bunraku-style puppetry. Nightgowns fly about the stage, manipulated from the floor by their human handlers. A heap of cloth becomes a lively dog. A blanket transforms into a lurching pirate ship. Though the puppeteers are visible throughout the show, the thrill they create is no less powerful. The magic of the performance is in its making.
Breuer and Twist's extensive experience with puppetry is the perfect complement to the prodigious talents of Karen Kandel, who provides the voices of every character in the two-and-a-half-hour show.
The narrative is interrupted by frequent musical interludes, which often drag out an otherwise quick-moving production. While the traditional Celtic tunes—ably performed by a six-person band and sung by the haunting Siobhan Miller—evoke Barrie's native Scotland, they often disrupt the flow of Kandel's narration.
Peter Pan has been interpreted in numerous ways. In the 1953 Disney film, he's a jovial and downright helpful guide. In the much-revived 1954 Broadway musical, Mary Martin played him as a high-spirited and well-meaning scamp. But in this production, as in Barrie's tales, he can be a menacing figure, wooing the Darling children away from their parents, Pied Piper–style. The reappearance of this Peter Pan reminds adult theatergoers of what they lose in the act of growing up. While the spectacular visions created onstage will charm the youngest viewers, they offer something more valuable to the older ones: the chance to rediscover Barrie's island of the mind.
Presented by Mabou Mines and the New 42nd Street at the New Victory Theater, 209 W. 42nd St., NYC. May 6–22. Thu.–Fri., 7 p.m.; Sat., 2 and 7 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m. (646) 223-3010 or www.newvictory.org.