Notes

Director’s Notes

“Why can’t you fly now, mother?” “Because I am grown up, dearest. When people grow up they forget the way.” – J.M. Barrie, Peter and Wendy   – Jenn Thompson, Director of “Peter and the Starcatcher”

When I first read Peter and the Starcatcher, it immediately transported me back to my childhood theatre roots.

Fortunate to grow up in a family of actors, my unique introduction to the theatre was as the youngest  “cast member” of the family troupe. And in that blessed role, as both child actor and child of actors, I fell in love completely.

The theatre is a wonderful nanny. It encourages us to live unencumbered by any grown-up sensibilities or obstacles, and challenges us to find that perfect mixture (the one requiring two dashes of heart for every one of head) that allows us to stave off the constraints of ego, fear, or doubt that will inevitably come later.

One tenet of a life in the theatre is that you must never grow up. Not all the way, at least. While we wrestle with the responsibilities and realities of our adult lives, we must also always be dreaming. Inventing, in concert with other practitioners of our odd brand of magic. It’s a tenuous balance to strike. We are gypsies, often making families where we find them and placing our faith in our ability to entertain and enlighten. Our life’s purpose: to move people we have never met and are likely to never meet, except across the dark divide that separates and unites us.

Once in a while, when we are very very lucky, we are rewarded with a play that requires us to reach beyond where we’ve gone before. To strap on wings and step off the ledge (literally). Tobelieve. Not only in each other, but in an audience’s ability to take flight as well…and imagine that an actor can be a door or a pirate, an orphan, a mermaid.

And while all acts of art are a leap of faith, some make you soar higher than others.

We hope you enjoy the flight!

~ Jenn Thompson, Director