Play Focusing On Peter Pan's Wendy Debuts In Park Slope

PARK SLOPE, NY — A new play focusing on the story of Wendy Darling from the classic story Peter Pan will start a run throughout July at a historic Park Slope park.

"Wendy Darling & Peter Pan," being put on by Piper Theatre at the Old Stone House, combines two plays written by J.M. Barrie to shift the focus of the story away from the boy who never wants to grow up and onto Wendy instead.

"Wendy survives the tale to be surrounded by those who can’t remember the adventure," said John P. McEneny, co-founder of Piper Theatre, in a statement. "It's this small tragedy that gives depth to the adventure to something human we all can relate to."

Piper Theatre's production starts on Wednesday night and will run every Thursday through Saturday in the Old Stone House at Washington Park until July. The free outdoor performances, at Fifth Avenue and Third Street, start at 8 p.m., the group said.

For the play, Piper Theatre used the dialogue from Barrie's 1904 play "The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up" with the stage directions from his 1908 one "When Wendy Grew Up — An Afterthought" to bring out the story of Wendy's tragedy, McEneny said.

"Barrie’s stage directions focus on the fear of losing memories — of childhood, of mothers, of first love, of family — more so than on the fear of growing up," he said.

Pipe Theatre tapped designer Cody Grey to create traditional Japanese Bunraku puppets of characters like Tinkerbell and the crocodile for the stage show.

British actress Eliza Shea, who recently played Alice Liddell in the Ophelia Theatre Group's production of "Your Alice," will take the role of Wendy for the production, according to the theatre.

For more information about the performances, visit the Pipe Theatre Company's website.

Image courtesy of Jeremy Amar