Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up - Acting Edition

by J.M. Barrie, in a new version by John Caird and Trevor Nunn

• ISBN13: 9780822213451
• ISBN10: 0822213451
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-05-02
• Publisher: DRAMATISTS PLAY SERVICE INC

Summary

THE STORY: This is the beloved story of Peter, Wendy, Michael, John, Capt. Hook, Smee, the lost boys, pirates and the indians, and, of course, Tinker Bell, in their adventures in Never Land. However, for the first time, the play is here restored to Barrie's original intentions. In the words of John Caird: A brief explanation of some of the decisions we took in revising the text may be useful to anyone considering their own production of this version...We were fascinated to discover that there was no one single document called PETER PAN. What we found was a tantalizing number of different versions, all of them containing some very agreeable surprises...We have made some significant alterations, the greatest of which is the introduction of a new character, the Storyteller, who is in fact the author himself. To a reader of the play, one of its most enjoyable ingredients is Barrie's unmistakable authorial tone. He tells the story of Peter Pan partly through dialogue and partly by means of his inimitable stage directions. In a whimsical, ambiguous and ironical manner he speaks here as clearly to adults as he does to children. Moreover, many of the play's complicated conceits are only comprehensible if Barrie's commentary can be heard in parallel with the voices of the characters. This device also allows us to prepare our audience with some essential background history of the Darling family in a brief prologue, and to extend the narrative at the end of the play to include Barrie's heartbreaking and heartwarming conclusion to Peter and Wendy's story.