[NEohioPAL] Review of "Peter and the Startcatcher" at Dobama Theatre

[Bob Abelman via NEohioPAL]

Dobama’s ‘Starcatcher’ leaves you clapping for more than fallen fairies 


Bob Abelman

Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning Journal

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics





The story of Peter Pan is still capable of turning adults into children.  



Not an easy feat considering that growing old means growing out of and giving up on childish things.  Yet James M. Barrie’s tale about a boy who won’t grow up continues to resonate with children of all ages. 



“Peter and the Starcatcher,” which opened on Broadway in 2012 and won five Tony Awards, is a very playful “Peter Pan” prequel that introduces us to an orphan before he was Pan, a Captain before he was Hook, a strong-willed girl before she birthed Wendy, and boys before they were lost.  This play was adapted for the stage by Rick Elice from Dave Berry and Ridley Pearson’s 2004 children’s novel, with some intermittent music by Wayne Barker.



A good production of “Peter Pan” is defined by its ability to get a greying audience believing in fairies and wishing it could fly.  



But the litmus test for a good “Peter and the Starcatcher” – a show that is set on a naked stage, has its actors portraying a range of characters, creatures and inanimate objects, and is blatantly meta-theatrical in its presentation – is its resourcefulness.  



The ensemble must turn ordinary rope, planks and ladders into storytelling stagecraft, fashion the illusion of flight without wires, and get an adult audience to willingly engage its imagination and play along.  



Dobama Theatre’s “Peter and the Starcatcher” passes the test.  But barely.



For more of this review, go to www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/.  
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