Peter Pan

With the generous cooperation of the weather, the Group 20 Players opened a lush, vigorous, colorful production of Sir James M. Barrie's Peter Pan last night.

When Beerbohm Tree was first faced with producing this tale of "the boy who would not grow up" in 1904, he attempted to defer the production, feeling certain that Barrie had gone quite mad to have written such an escapist play. The show went on, however, and with overwhelming success. The character of Wendy set a new fashion in children's names: and many youngsters believed in Peter's magic so thoroughly that they broke limbs while attempting to fly like him. (In case you are concerned about the latter, Sir James soon announced that one had to have Peter's particular brand of fairy dust in order to fly).

Since that December evening in 1904, when Maude Adams and Gerald Du Maurier originated the roles of Peter Pan and Captain Hook, some of the greatest English-speaking actors have been charmed in taking to the piano wire or donning an iron claw, including Eva LeGallienne, Joan Greenwood, Jean Arthur, and Mary Martin in the title role; and Alastair Sim, Charles Laughton, Boris Karloff, and Cyril Ritchard as the evil pirate Captain.

It is no small wonder, then, that Rosemary Harris and Eric Portman should essay these famous roles; for they are both versatile and gifted performers.

Miss Harris is the perfect pixie. With a toss of her head, or a shrug of her shoulders, she conveys the essence of boyish awkwardness. Her Peter is straightforward and innocent, and she seldom resorts to coyness. Consequently she avoids the pitfall of appearing too "cute," and is, instead, totally captivating and convincing. In short, she is Peter Pan!

Eric Portman makes an excellent Captain Hook, thought one might wish that he occasionally played with more bravado, since the humor in this role is so meaty and the character is reminiscent of Malvolio in Twelfth Night. (The scene on the Pirate Ship, where Hook is duped by Peter and the orphan children is particularly reminiscent of the Garden Scene where Malvolio is duped by Sir Toby and his cohorts.) Mr. Portman, nevertheless, brings his own special qualities to the role.

In an entirely different mood, neither nymph-like nor villainous, Ellis Rabb is absolutely superb. It is no news that Mr. Rabb is a fine classic actor (having appeared as Hamlet and Lear to great critical acclaim); but as Smee, Captain Hook's sentimental side-kick, he is just plain riotous. He has but to walk across the stage to get a laugh. The characterization is similar to one he used as Starveling in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Stratford last summer; but since he has considerably more to say as Smee, the concept is considerably enlarged. The shaky voice, the doddering walk, the tongue whipping from cheek to cheek--all contribute to definitive Smee. It is impossible to conceive of any one extracting more humor from this role.

The other supporting roles are also extremely well handled. There is not one bad performance. But particularly fine are Hayward Morse (son of Barry Morse) and George Connolly as Michael and John Darling; Samuel Waterson and Charles Lewes at Tootles andSlightly, two orphan children; and Sydney Sturgess as Mrs. Darling. Chase Crosley makes a warm Wendy, though she is a bit too mature for the role. Gus Solomons, Jr. doubled nicely as Nana, the St. Bernard "nurse," and the crocodile who snapped off Captain Hook's right hand. His choreography, however, is rather colorless and insufficiently rehearsed.

This production uses the music written by the English composer John Crooke for the original production. When the play was published some thirty years later, Barrie himself penned a dedicatory perface in which he made point of praising the old Crooke music as "delightful." He was right: the various pieces are tuneful, and appropriate to the changing moods. Crooke's music has been tastefully scored for harpsichord and woodwinds by John Brockington, who appears briefly as the pirate Jukes.

Settings for any production of Peter Pan are an especial challenge since the script calls for seven different scene changes. However, William D. Roberts has provided some sparkling and highly imaginative ones for Group 20, complete with toadstool benches and a foldaway bed. Perhaps such a complicated show technically is a bit ambitious for a stage without a curtain. All set changes must be made by hand, and are, therefore, unduly long.

The show is such a delight, however, that no one seems to mind. There was an unusually large number of children at last night's performance, and even they were attentive throughout. This is no mean feat.

In short, with this zesty production by Basil Langton, the Group 20 Players have another solid hit on their hands.