Peter and the Starcatcher -- Playhouse on Park -- Through October 14 |
| The cast of "Peter and the Starcatcher" |
Are all pirates inherently hard of hearing? It would seem
so, at least based on Playhouse on Park’s current production of “Peter and the
Star Catcher,” which is under the direction of Sean Harris. In fact, at least
based on the somewhat incomprehensible first act, most of the cast seem to be
in need of hearing aids. That’s because, quite often, lines are delivered as if
cast members are in different rooms, and even when the decibel level is
lowered, the actors sound like they have been asked to chew on nouns and gnaw
on verbs. This is especially irksome since the plot, as laid out in the first
act, is somewhat (unnecessarily) convoluted. Thus, if you can’t understand what
the actors are saying you are essentially adrift on a rough sea.
Based
on a novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, “Peter” is basically a prequel to
J. M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan.” As scripted by Rick Elice, with music by Wayne
Barker, what might have worked in the novel, since a reader has the opportunity
to pause and ponder, becomes somewhat opaque as a play, especially given the
aforementioned dialogue problems.
As best
as I could make out, it’s the late nineteenth century and Lord Aster (James
Patrick Nelson) has been charged with delivering a gift from Queen Victoria to
some foreign leader whose name and provenance I missed. With him is his
daughter, Molly (Natalie Sanners), an apprentice star-catcher. What’s a
star-catcher? Well, it has something to do, obviously, with stars, or shooting
stars, but what, exactly, remains to be seen. There are two ships waiting to
sail – the Wasp and the Neverland – and two crates, one of which carries the
gift for the foreign potentate – it’s starstuff. What does the other contain? I
believe it’s sand. Why the two crates? Beats me. In any event, for reasons lost
in the garbled dialogue, Lord Aster demands that Molly sail on the Neverland
while he sets forth on the Wasp. Oh, yes, the two crates are switched. Why?
Again, beats me.
Things
quickly become more confusing, for it turns out that the crew of the Neverland
harbors pirates, including their leader, Black Stache (Matthew Quinn) and his
henchman, Smee (Miss Sandra Mhlongo). We now, at least for one audience member,
enter terra incognita involving three orphan boys on the Neverland to be sent
to the potentate as dinner entrees (one of the boys [Jared Starkey] will
eventually be dubbed Peter and, then, in the second act, be given the surname
Pan). There’s a chase at sea, a violent storm that casts all crew members of
both ships into the drink, along with the crate that has been sailing with Molly
(yes, the starstuff). They all end up on the island of Mollusk. Thus, thankfully,
ends the first act.
Perhaps
their time in the briny ocean has affected the cast members’ vocal chords, for
there is little yelling in the second act and the dialogue, by and large,
becomes understandable. The second act also brings us to more familiar
territory, for it suggests the origin of the Peter Pan legend, the eternal
conflict between Pan and Captain Hook, and the source of the Lost Boys.
It’s
also in the second act that many of the characters emerge from the first act’s
foggy plot and munch-crunched dialogue, chief among them Black Stache. Quinn
has been licensed by director Harris to play Stache as broadly as possible, and
Quinn makes the most of it, preening and posing and reveling in his character’s
many malapropisms, corrected by Smee. It turns out that the starstuff has magic
qualities. Peter gets to shore atop the crate that contains the starstuff, but
it leaks out, working wonders, especially to some sea creatures – fish of
various varieties – that are all turned into mermaids, leading to the second
act’s rather entertaining opening number, “Mermaid Outta Me.” It is here that
we are also introduced to the island’s potentate, Fighting Prawn (Elena V.
Levenson) who, for no special reason, speaks with an Italian accent. Levenson
vies with Quinn to see who can best stay just this side of an over-the-top
performance – if nothing else, it’s fun to watch them milk their respective
roles for all they are worth.
Sannes, as Molly, is an engaging young
actress, but her character is ill-defined by the playwright, especially as it
pertains to the exact function of a star-catcher and why she has been required
to sail on the Neverland (it all may be there in the first act and I just
missed it). Thus, although she is in many scenes, and develops a relationship,
of sorts, with Peter, we never truly understand what is at stake for this main
character – yes, she’s a plucky young lass but…so what? However, it’s nice to
know that she will eventually return to England, marry and give birth to…you
guessed it, Wendy.
“Peter and the Star Catcher” could
have been an enjoyable trip down Memory Lane, a satisfying explication of how
Peter Pan and Captain Hook came to be, much as the 2009 “Star Trek” film
revealed how Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scotty first came to be associated with
each other. Alas, although the second act does offer some “Aha!” moments, the
first act attempts to do too much that is, quite simply, not relevant, and
although the starstuff may eventually explain Peter’s ability to fly, it
remains a mysterious substance.
I saw the show on opening night, so
maybe Harris, who was in attendance, will consider reining in his cast a bit,
lowering the “Aarrggh” level of the dialogue and allowing the audience to grasp
what the hell is going on in the first act. Maybe not. As I slipped back to my
seat before the start of the second act I took a very random sampling of
audience members, simply asking them if they had understood much of the
dialogue in the first act. Most had not. One lady of a certain age said to me:
“I don’t know what’s going on but I’m staying because my ride’s not available
until after ten o’clock.” Not exactly a rave review.
“Peter and the Starcatcher” runs through Oct. 14. For
tickets or more information call 860-523-5900, X10, or go to
www.playhouseonpark.org
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