‘Playing Peter Pan’ tackled difficult topics in creative ways

By Megan Deets

“It’s been encouraging that I’m telling a story that matters,” Rosie Hernandez-Smith said about her role as June in “Playing Peter Pan”. 

“Playing Peter Pan” is an original play written by Professor Eric Mishne for Cedarville University’s theatre program. It ran from October 2-12. The story follows three siblings, Wendy, June and Michael, who use their imaginations to bring the story of “Peter Pan” to life. They act out many of the famous scenes in “Peter Pan,” such as Peter teaching the children to fly, the shooting of the Wendy Bird and Tiger Lily’s kidnapping. 

But there is a much deeper level to this adaptation. Mishne explained that his original intention was to write a script only using J.M. Barrie’s text, the original story of “Peter Pan.” He was fascinated by the subtext layered behind the simple fantasy story of “Peter Pan,” especially that which revolves around the topic of childhood death. 

Because of how complex Mishne’s plot became, he decided to add some lines to Barrie’s words in order to make the play resonate with a modern audience. The result was a deeply emotional story about a family struggling through grief and loss as their son and brother Michael dies of an unknown illness. 

During the shows, you could hear people crying in the audience, but the topics in the show were heavy even for the actors. 

Hernandez-Smith often hopped before she went on stage as June. This physical motion helped her to get into character.

“It’s not necessarily healthy to be as emotional as Rosie, but I can make a physical change,” Hernandez-Smith said. 

When playing a character who experiences such strong grief, it can be hard for actors not to dwell on their own emotional experiences. Since it can be unhealthy to focus on those negative emotions, the actors learn how to separate their characters from their real lives.

Anna Brewer, who played Wendy, also noted the seriousness of the play. She believes that one of the most powerful moments in the story is when Wendy and Michael are pretending to be stranded on Marooner’s Rock. In this scene, Wendy began to deal with the reality of her brother’s death for the first time. 

“I’m not about making people cry for the sake of making people cry, but making people cry by reminding them what is important,” Mishne said in response to the strong reactions to the show. “I think emotions are tied to values.” 

Brewer also worked behind the scenes as the dramaturg for “Playing Peter Pan”. The dramaturg is the person who does background research on the topics of a play and teaches the actors about them. As the dramaturg, Brewer studied concepts like therapy, grief, and communication. Learning about these things allowed the cast to tell the play’s story more realistically, causing the audience to have more of these emotional responses. 

Despite “Playing Peter Pan’s” heaviness, it is also full of joy. The audience didn’t just cry; they laughed throughout the performances at Dad’s pirate voice, played by Peter Larson, the antics of the “Lost Boys” and the adorable kids who played Wendy’s and June’s future children. 

Through playing together on stage, the actors formed a close bond that was evident when people saw the shows.

“When we get to really play together, it’s really sweet,” Hernandez-Smith said. It came naturally for her to bond with Brewer and Isaac Steward, who played Michael, because she has an older sister and younger brother in real life. 

“It was so real,” Brewer agreed, referring to the bond between the three “siblings”. 

Hernandez-Smith as June

Mishne was happy to hear that parents who came to see the show were reminded that they should take the time to play with their kids. That reminder was one of the messages he wanted to communicate through “Playing Peter Pan”. 

Or to flip that message around, Mishne said, “If one student leaves the show and calls their parent, my job is done.” 

“Playing Peter Pan” may have been a more serious story than some audience members expected. It dealt with hard topics, but in a way that left the audience with hope. The creativity of telling a story through play allowed this performance to present universal themes with great impact.

“There’s 300 people there,” Brewer said, referring to the show’s impact. ”They’re all watching the same thing, but pulling different things from it.” 

Megan Deets is a freshman Professional Writing and Information Design student. Some of the things that she loves are new notebooks, fresh fruit and musicals. 

Photos by Scott Huck