"PETER PAN."

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 776, 28 March 1910, Page 9

"PETER PAN."

.--• *> ———. •■ iMR. J. M. BARRIE'S FANTASTICAL , f PlAY.'V.'.'-'y A DELIGHTFUL PERFORMANCE. < "Pe'terPan, or the.Boy who.Wouldn't ' Grow 'Up;", a fantastical, play, in five acts, by j. M. Barrio. ; Cast: —, . ... ; Peter. Pan '.....1;...; PaVkea ,' , Mrs.-Darline; .'..'Miss Valentine Sydney Wendy .Darling'-... Mir9 Dolores Bovira John-Napoleon Darling . ■ ■ '• ' LMaßter Cyril French. :'Michael ,; iV..i„:....™..;™ Miss Kitty Mason ; Nana-.'........:.... -... Mr; Chaß. - Smith Tootles '.v.....-......;.;.....-' Miss Dolly • Nepean■■Nibs ..;.:.........:...... Miss Nellie M'Donald Slightly '..;.:............. • Master Alf. Byrne ': Curly .;......; Miss' Clarice Hardwick . First Twin :........ Miss Violet Wedgwood ..Second Twin .„.. r Miss Vera Heed . Since .....:....... Mr. Fred. Cambourno ■ Gentleman Starkey...Mr. Maurice Dudley Gecco •.....:.:......;......... Mr. Harold, Carr' 81ackman.............. Mr. Frank Harcourt Mu11iri5.........'...::...;.... Mr. Walter Hunt. : Oreat.llig .LittlePanther-DaveEevenall Tiger- Lily Lorna Pounds Liza ..,'.< .'. Miss, Tootsie Pounds Mr. Darling and Capt. Hook ... Mr. Thos. Kingston ■ The eternal craving-for- something Hew should be: appeased for a time with the production;of. Mr.'J.' M.' Barrie's whimsical dream-play. "Peter"l'au", at the Opera House on Saturday evening. ''Chanhing, 1 ' ■ ' "delightful," l ; '• ."most interesting,".• were., among '■ -;. the ,com--.ments.,heard, in the cloak-room at the conchisibn of the; play, and these, may ■~be taken' as .'sample opinions of what the big-audience .which overflowed the seating -accommodation in 'every- part of the houso thought of the play. There -. wore"; occasions- -when a certain : lack of'spontaneity in the. applause seemed \to indicate :an inappreciation .'.. of- some;; of .-Mr.. Barrie's. points, but : Beeihg"that"the ; playwright breaks virfia.- ground in the play, this was perlips: excusable; indeed, to those who were keenly;, interested; it, was a virtue . as .unrestricted.' laughter or. ill-judged applause .would' have distracted attention- froiri the action of; the play.

Just a Delightful Di-eam. .' What.is "Peter: Pan"? ..' Many people have .asked the question during , the past week; or; so. ;. -There' are .certain clearly-defined heads'under which .the generality of theatrical productions may be, classified^—tragedy; .drama, : comedy, faroe j (ahd the sharps \ or .flats: between them)—but' '.'Poter Pan" is;.- none of them." It is' just' a .delightful. dream, packed full of those delicious.': conjurlngs of "the child-mind , when wandering in the wonderland of Nod; It is » dramatisation of the sub-consciousness of v; healthy children'; "when • they .;,;do ■! dream -"things true''. (as Mercutio puts .it)';. In-order to ;geti v > the. maximum pleasure,. the public must.'realiseithif ; ;-^ne;^misi<.--bfl\..o-uiteV'co n Ti n Ped.-''.' l ''-Tli« play ,'should be witnessed in the spiril of -the little-child; who,; in listening .to that classic of the nursery,' "Littli ■ ited .Riding Hood," broke in;,-with— . "Not ;a: really and truly .wolf ?"j"Ye's,' said the;narrator, ."a really andttrul; ■■ - wolf!" ■> ''Whereupon : the. 'child's-:blu< , eyes opened and her under-lij : quivered as she waded into the deepe .' -seriousness of the tragedy.. Though : , "isordid.i matt?r-of-fact' world , niayihav 'shattered our faith ;in; fairies,. and:hol goblins, it is 'tender-Wise, I '' in. negotial ■. ing' with innocence to assume a sympathetic' conviction '■. that, -such things are. : It is the little; one's; wondef-'woria; where wbiite'right .triumphs over black ' wrong,.and the. good fairy is "'ever feady ( to dumbfound:.;/.the .'- wioked;; ogre. ' ,'Nearly 'everyone has -this;tender lean?. ing toward ' fairy-tales....They take.:.us .'back, to: bur early youth .with; its ! dreams, forgotten or made quaint with .the passing- years', yet : iwhich seemed .as logical, -and • attainable: as / Peter's house.in the jSpme.ibpy&be-, j . .cume'.inen'.aud lose,'confidence.:in' every- ; : body :and everything, so soon; 'a ; few ; ■-. remain, boys^all.their.lives: Happy .few! A Strang* Boy and His-Shadow. It;is bedtime:in-'they;Daflihgs':>home, .! :ind: Wendy,, Michael,, and John have - 'romped, with Mr. Darling and 'Nana, ;■-■ the" dog;(the, canine nurse), have/been bathed, •'■■: and/ jtucked .'in .'nice 'and "comfy." :,;Mrs.:;Darling,: who: hovers round,h'er childrenlikie.X hen, with chicks';, expresses.; vague: fears to her : husband.; She had seen 'a ; strange boy enter.:the room by the.:window (though 'it is two .floors up), and:in'.'an attempt to Nana had: shut down, the .'window.and cut off • his-shadow ■ as .he escaped. There is the';shadow to prove lit. ;■ George examines... the grey film, ; and says;it is nobody he.knows. .-He "suggests getting a price for it from, the museum. Then.they go off to a dinner party, leaving onlyl.the. low night-lights in the room. When all is quiet the lightsvsuddenly' gol.out, .- the window ' opensV'an'd' in from the: stars floats a little brown,^'boy—a- sweet-faced happy '.'■ 'littlechap with tears at the back of his voice. "It : -is'Peter Pan,;cbme for his ;6hadowj;'<A-tiny; : ball oMight-darts here, ■,there,? and; everywhere;- and Peter talks '■ ■ (to it,-'- and.' it -"-talks to Peter—iii;' bell,■•■:language," -Thisis'Tinker-'Bell,:'Peter's own fairy.. '••Jit; shows.'him' where- his ; shadow ''is : . hiddenj; but Peter's exuberant delight on finding it; is ■ tempered with tears at his; inability to stick it : on. His crying wakes Wendy, to whom he explains himself and his trouble. Peter had.run,away from home the day be was born, because, his parents;had talked; of ; -' what they %ouid make him : wheri'a'mari. He did not want to bo a. . man—he always wanted. to-be a' little -.'." iboy and=;have fun. •: He lived in .the Never": Never Never Land with the Six [Lost. Boys, who had tumbled out of (their- perambulators' when" the; nurses were not watching; They, were'all boys .' --girls.--never fell but—they ;were too . clever/:-.'-Wendy sews;/on the /.shadow, land Peter, is so taken with her that he invites her to his home, but she will not go without Michael and John; so Peter tcaches-them 'all'.-to, fly,;and away they go through the window,: bound for the edge of the morning.... -v'..

STha Novor Never Never Land.' : Peering ■ faces look down : from the trees .in. the,dimdesolateness of tke : [Never.'Never Never. Land, and- .each trunk is 'aft .entrance to the-. subterranean retreat: of, Peter and the Six Boys, ffhe lonely six are feeling just a little .anxious oyer Betel's- lengthy, absence, and are all .-. sympathising . with themeelves ' 'at' their ,'motherless condition .■when a great' white-bird: is seen above ithoml ;Ono, thinking .what brave Peter would do -in such an. extremity, shoots it with: an arrow, '-. 'and -Wendy..falls fluttering to. earth-,.wounded. Peter v arrives, is told of :the tragedy,'and'is greatly distressed,''."What are. they: to do? -Too timid'to/touch her—Peter V"says it would be disrespectful—it is proposed to'build a house: round her, and • ,tbey sing to Wendy asking her what kind of a' house-she would like. ■- She replies : most sweetly, and the. house is, bmlded there and then, after which 'Wendy re- . covers 'rapidly, .and- in response, to a deputation consents to become a mother to him all on condition that Peter (who only loves Wendy as a son) becomes ■father. So they "live lovely".in their cosy home under the .ground, -while <}reat Big Little Panther and his Red Indian braves guard them overhead irom-the pirates. These.are a terrible crew, led by a fearful and sanguinary •person named Captain Hook, who hates iPeter" like ' "pison," because Peter m a fine moment had cut. off the.pirates arm and given; it to a crocodile, and so great was the saurian's.appreciation that he:-is for ever after the rest of -Captain' Hook. Only one thing has. -.'saved his life—the crocodile hatTswallowed a Clock, and its tick gives warning of its approach. There is a fight -between the and the pirates Peter' says they • will know who wins Lcau's""the Indians, if successful, vnll beat tno tom-tom. Tho .slim -Captain Hook, who wins, knows, this, and l.v

Strategy captures.all save Peter and takes them to the Pirate Ship, where they arc about to be made to. walk, the plank" when Peter, with the aid of a.big clock, imitates the crocodile, gains a strategio position on the ship, arms the Lost Boys, and, after a most san-guinary-struggle, kill the pirates,_and throws Hook: to the crocodile, then Wendy decides that it is time to m liome to motherland little Michael thinks so too. So they, creep in through the window, and . get. into bed, ana mother, who has been distracted during their absence, and father, who has been living in the Kennel (out, ot remorse for having maltreated Nana, in the beginning), are beautifully ecstatic over the return of their .. dear ones. Poor Peter is broken-hearted at parting with Wendy, but Mrs. Darling, who is a sensible person; says that she may 'return.for a < week ever year to do Peter's spring-cleaning. So_ Peter retires with a light heart to his house in the tree-tops,. and there amidst tlio fairy-lights that jewel the night he pipes the,time away, for 'with the spring comes Wendy." n .' ,Tho company, too, was exceptionally phantasmagoria—so it is... But it is all invested with a delicious atmosphere, prettv pathos, and human understanding that makes the play tbe quaintest of theatrical delights. The sentiment is so sweet, and pure, and tender,.the language so whimsical, and so far removed from tho dull or trite, that the play:must'.surely please. ..Technically.it is perfect.-- •'■ ..

Tho. Players, ; Tho,company,' too,.was exceptionally happy in its - performance, though _a first one. They all had speaking parts, and : on no occasion was' their fresh and natural acting marred by any trace of disingenuousness or stickiness. This was a distinct, feature of the performance; Miss Lizette Parkes made Peter Pan the brightest and sweetest of boys,", not exactly the elf ; of our imagination, yet not without an appealing whimsicality, as,-for m- ' stance, when she;so'frequently, turns a serious point by saying, "It doesh t matter 1" when all the world knew that it did. . She was.at her best in the pathetio'mood, when her artless method of showing or hiding 'her ' heartache found a ready response in front. She appealed touchingly when she parts .from Wendy, after'the interchange of "thimbles," and again at .the end_of the play in the Darliiig home. Her youthful grace and captivating personality were illuminating factors in_a performance that will not easily be forgotten. ■> Wendy was sweetly played pretty Dqlores'Rovira, who made her a wistful little homely creature with a world of motlierliness in her gentle composition; ■ She, too, was pleasingly natural, and her naive scenes with Peter were delightfully; acted. Miss Kitty Mason (Seven years old) was Michael Darling, a character with whom the house immediately fell in love, and applauded with ecstatic fervour when she kills the big 'black Pirate and nonchalantly wipes the blood from the blade. Master Cyril French' made a pert John Darling,, acting in'the proper spirit with plenty of confidence. 'The Six Lost Boys were all so; well; played; that their •names, are given:—Misses Dally Nepean, Nellie M'Donald, Clarice Hardwick, .Vera Reed, Violet Wedgwood, and Mas- ! ter Alf.;Byrne., ■.;;.; '/

Tho Pirate-Chief. That'sound-actor-Mr.' Thomas Kings{on;was entrusted:with,the dual parts, of Mr. Darling and' Capt; Hook.; The; i contrast between tho ; breezy : London paterfamilias;' and the lean cadaverous . .Pirate' Chief, ...with a pale, green.:face and a : hook arm, ..was wide enough to extend.the resources : of any actor.; : Mr. iiingston was- qujte delightful' in both parts;; but it is; as Hook that' he gets a chance' to '.'address;' himself; seriously % the bright burlesque ihe''part' offers. The. .tragic fervour with' which he recited the. story of the crocodile,' and the ■ abject,.terror.: he'.displayed on':.its' proach--were intensely : amusing, and never did he relax from that spirit of conviction .-the character demanded. Mrß..;Parling was sweetly, portrayed by. Miss;Valentino Sydney, who meets the requirements of the role in every way. The pirates were well acted by Messrs. F.. Camboufne,' Harold Carr, Walter Hunt, and othersi. Mr.. Dave Revenall looked a. picture of dignity and reserve as Great Big Little Pdnther, and Miss Lorna Pounds.- made a handsome TigerLily. l Diminutive Tootsie Pounds'is Liza,' the pert housemaid; who wakes up the audience.to see the.play. . ; 'The play is , elaborately mounted : throughout. '-. ■Particular' : care,. and no little ingenuity, were called for in painting such scenes as ; "The Never Never Never Land," ;"Our "'.Underground Home," ""The Pirate Ship," 'and ".The Tree-tops," and Messrs. W. R. Coleman and. Geo. Gordon have succeeded: splendidly. An orchestra, :under Mr. Diederichsori, did '.justice to .an interesting score, and played several selections, acceptably. ...,'.;-.'. ...' ..; "Peter.Pan"will be played thie afternoon and every evening this week.. .