‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ captivates at Utah Shakespeare Festival
We all know the way to Neverland. (In case you’ve forgotten: second star to the right and straight on ’til morning.)
But how did Peter Pan first find his way?
Ah, therein lies a tale — one “Peter and the Starcatcher” recounts with zany, fractured-fairy tale delight.
Making its regional premiere at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, this Tony-winning “Peter Pan” boasts a decidedly 21st-century vibe, mixing elements from its classic source with a grab-bag of anachronisms, puns, pratfalls, merry melodies and other inspired silliness.
For all the madcap comedy, though, there’s real pain at the heart of this “Peter” — and the realization that, for some, being a boy is hardly a dream come true.
That’s certainly the case for three orphans adrift in Victorian England — lost boys who find themselves aboard the good ship Neverland, bound for the make-believe realm of Rundoon.
Prentiss (Chris Klopatek) has delusions of grandeur, while all Ted (Matt Zambrano) dreams of is food, glorious food. As for the one they call Boy (a wary, scrappy Rhett Guter), he wants nothing and no one.
Until he encounters someone who awakens his adventurous spirit: dauntless Molly Aster (take-charge Betsy Mugavero), daughter of a royal minister who oversees a powerful substance known as starstuff.
Also in hot pursuit of said starstuff: the dread pirate Black Stache (Quinn Mattfeld, so uproariously over-the-top he makes Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow look positively comatose by comparison).
In spinning this captivating yarn, playwright Rice Elice (adapting Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson’s novel) wittily employs devices from spoken narrative to song-and-dance, referencing everything from Shakespeare to Starbucks in the process.
And director Brian Vaughn proves a capital captain for this inventive odyssey, charting an energetic course as his cast members switch roles, bring simple props to life — would you believe a broom vs. toilet plunger duel? — and caper about with irresistible glee. (They’re aided immeasurably by Jo Winiarski’s storybook sets, Jaymi Lee Smith’s lighting, Samuel Clein’s musical direction and Kevin Copenhaver’s splendiferous costumes.)
Things may get a bit too poke-in-the-ribs boisterous at random moments. (A little starstuff goes a long way.)
But with a voyage this fanciful, this fantastical, it’s best to dismiss such quibbles and climb aboard.
Contact reporter Carol Cling at ccling@
reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.
Review
“Peter and the Starcatcher”
52nd annual Utah Shakespeare Festival
In repertory through Oct. 18
Southern Utah University, Cedar City (2½ hours northeast of Las Vegas on Interstate 15)
$16-$74 (800-752-9849; www.bard.org)
Grade: A
UTAH SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL CASTS OFF
A voyage of discovery — literally and figuratively — as the 52nd annual Utah Shakespeare Festival sets sail in Cedar City, Utah.
Three of this summer’s six plays involve ships, from a pirate vessel (in the regional premiere of the Tony-winning “Peter and the Starcatcher”) to an art-deco ocean liner in the Cole Porter musical “Anything Goes”:
Song-and-dance numbers make ‘Anything Goes’ entertaining
The season’s other destinations range from medieval England:
‘King John’ offers insight into corruption of power
… to Regency England …
‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’ mixes high, low comedy
… and 1950s New York:
Cast shines in ‘Twelve Angry Men’
Along the way, it’s fascinating to watch members of the acting company metamorphose. Melinda Parrett, for example, portrays both “The Tempest’s” gossamer spirit Ariel and “Anything Goes’ ” saucy chanteuse Reno Sweeney.
Actor brings emotional resonance to ‘The Tempest’
Corey Jones goes from enslaved beast (“The Tempest’s” Caliban) to England’s “King John,” while Martin Kildare embodies the goodest of the good guys in “Twelve Angry Men” — and a villain who’d betray his own brother in “The Tempest.”
And so it goes, as the Utah Shakespeare Festival once again proves that all the world’s a stage — and every stage is a world.
