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Programme notes for Peter Pan Goes Wrong Act 1 March 20th 2015
Good evening ladies and gentlemen welcome to Peter Pan Goes Wrong. I am Pam and I will be describing Act 1 for you. My colleague Pauline will take over for Act 2. The Director of Peter Pan Goes Wrong is Adam Meggido. This is a play within a play. It is the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’s performance of Peter Pan based on the book of the same name by J.M.Barrie. I will name the cast of the Drama society first as most take several parts in the play. I will finish by naming the actual actor taking those parts.
I may have to interrupt these programme notes occasionally as things are happening in the auditorium before the play starts which I will try to to tell you about.
Cast of the Drama Society in order of appearance: Chris Bean, a tall slim man with dark hair is the Director. He also plays the parts of Mr Darling and Captain Hook. As Mr Darling he has a small thin moustache. He wears an evening suit with white shirt and thin black tie. When he appears before the play as Director he wears a smart grey cardigan in place of the evening jacket. As Captain Hook, Chris is dressed in a long wide-skirted red coat with black belt over black trousers. He wears black boots and a black Tricorn hat perched precariously on top of a large wig of long black curly hair. Over his right hand he has a wide leather cuff from which a large metal hook protrudes. He wears a white ruff at his neck and a long sword hangs from his belt. The part of Chris Bean is played by Laurence Pears
Robert Grove is assistant director. He also plays the parts of Michael Darling and Starkey the pirate. Robert is a stocky man of medium height. He has long mouse coloured hair with receding hairline and a large shaggy beard and moustache. When Robert first appears with Chris before the play starts, to help Chris talk about the drama society, he is wearing baggy cream trousers with a highly decorated Christmas jumper. On his head he has red furry antlers which he enjoys shaking at the audience. It is apparent that Chris and Robert alternate as Directors and try to score points off each other. As Starkey, Robert wears a typical but gaudy pirate costume. He carries a large red and white toy parrot. The part of Robert Grove is played by Cornelius Booth
Max Bennet is fairly short with a prominent nose and a lopsided grin. Max plays Nana the dog, Peter’s shadow and the Crocodile. As Nana, Max wears a brown fluffy dog costume with removeable head. As Peter’s shadow he is dressed all in black, a replica of Peter’s outfit. As the crocodile Max wears the appropriate fancy dress. When the crocodile first appears he is lying on a low trolley on wheels with which he propels himself along using his hands. The part of Max Bennett is played by Matt Cavendish
Sandra Wilkinson plays the part of Wendy. She is a pretty slim girl of medium height with long curly black hair. She wears a short sleeved, long white nightdress decorated with blue ribbons. She wears ballet pumps on her feet. As Wendy she over dramatizes all her movements adding dance steps or posing provocatively, however inappropriate her action might be. The part of Sandra Wilkinson is played by Leonie Hill
Dennis Tyde is tall and thin with a slight stoop. He plays both John Darling and Bill Jukes as a pirate. As John Darling, Dennis wears navy and white striped pyjamas and a small top hat. He wears spectacles. As Bill Jukes his pirate’s costume includes long striped stockings, a too large black coat with lots of gold buttons and a red bandana on his head. Dennis often forgets his lines and needs to be prompted, for this reason he wears an earpiece. The part of Dennis Tyde is played by James Marlowe
Trevor Watson is the company’s stage manager. He is also in charge of lighting, sound and everything technical. He wears a black sleeveless decorated tee shirt and black jeans. He either wears earphones or they hang around his neck. He has a work belt round his waist with a pocket hanging at the back. Off stage he manages the computer. Trevor can be rather clumsy at times. The part of Trevor Watson is played by Chris Leask 2
Francis Beaumont is a stocky man of medium height with short dark hair. Francis plays the Narrator and the pirate Mr. Smee. As the narrator Francis is nattily dressed in a black suit with a white shirt and wide black tie tied in a bow. He usually sits on an elegant high backed wooden chair decorated with large gold studs. The chair is propelled on and off on a track at front stage left. Jonathan usually appears holding a large black book from which he appears to be reading. He often throws glittering confetti in the air. As Mr Smee, Francis wears a pirate’s bandana but his costume includes full harem type trousers made of flimsy material and a full sleeved shirt. The part of Francis Beaumont is played by Harry Kershaw
Annie Twilloil is fairly tall and slim with dark hair in a French pleat. Annie plays several parts so has many costume changes. Annie plays Mrs Darling dressed in a maroon evening dress with floating panels. Soon afterwards she appears as Tina the Darling’s maid wearing a long black dress with large white apron. Her hair as Tina is long and curly and a maid’s frilly cap is attached to it. When playing Tinker Bell Annie wears a strapless short blue and green dress of which the bouffant skirt is decorated with lights. The skirt is attached at the back to the orange power lead which trails off stage. On her head she has a large bushy ginger wig and on her back a pair of green wings. Annie also takes the part of Tiger Lily when she wears a short yellow dress with a brown fringe. Her hair as Tiger Lily is short and black and she wears a headband with a red feather in the front. The part of Annie Twilliol is played by Naomi Sheldon
Jonathan Harris plays Peter Pan thoughout. He is fairly tall and slim with short ginger hair. Jonathan wears a green short-sleeved shirt over green knee-length trousers and green tights. On his head he wears a small pointed hat and round his waist a brown belt to which is attached a pocket holding pan pipes. The part of Jonathan Harris is played by Alex Bartram
Lucy Grove is a short young lady with a small round face and big eyes. Lucy plays Tootles, one of the lost boys. She wears a onesie in a black and white animal print with a white front. On her head she has a small round short brimmed hat decorated with leaves. Tootles carries a bow and arrow in her hands and has a quiver on her back. She has a permanently frightened look and a stammer. The part of Lucy Grove is played by Rosie Abraham
Several of the actors also take the parts of stagehands and a paramedic.
The Sets. There are three sets used throughout the play each one being a third of a large revolving stage. They are all wide at the front and converge to a narrow back. The whole stage revolves to take us from one set to another.
Set 1 The bedroom of the children, Wendy Michael and John Darling. To the left of the stage and largely unseen is the technical desk of Trevor where he has his lighting panel, his sound box and his computer that controls everything that moves. It is from here that the narrator in his chair arrives and departs. The bedroom is nicely decorated in grey and pink. There is a large closed toy box on the left. Beside it a grey door. Near the back is another grey door. This one has a large flap in the lower half that opens into the room through which Nana the dog will enter. To the right of that door is a bedside table on which is a small gas lantern. Right again and set at an angle to accommodate the shape of the stage are three bunk beds. Each one has bedding but only the top bunk has a pillow. On that pillow sits a large Teddy Bear. At the end of the bed is a wooden ladder reaching to the top bunk. Wendy will occupy the top bunk, Michael the middle one and John the lower bunk. On the end of the bed hangs a candle holder with an unlit candle in it. Above the bed is a large window with two white wooden frames which open in the centre. Above and each side of the door at the back are small pink wall lights, there is another over the top of the bed. Above the door on the right is a large picture of a sailing ship. To the far right of the stage is a large grey wardrobe. As this is not actually on the stage it is lifted out of sight whenever the scene changes and is returned for each bedroom scene. On the floor near the door at the back is a large toy wooden train with tender.
Set 2 The Neverland Forest. This set consists mainly of two trees, one left and one right. The one on the left has a red door in its very wide trunk with a wooden ladder leading up to it. In front of, but not on the stage, are two huge tree stumps with large white spotted red toadstools painted on them. 3 In the background is a backcloth with silhouettes of trees painted on it.
Set 3 The Lagoon The set of the lagoon is very simple as water like fabric hangs down and covers each side of the stage to look like waterfalls. It doesn’t always follow that set 3 follows set 2 in this play.
I must inform you that there are a few flashes and loud bangs. I will try to warn you when these are likely to happen.
The play actually started as people were still taking their seats. Jonathan greeted some people at the front of the auditorium and stage hands appear to have lost a hammer and disturb people as they are looking for it.
Before the play Trevor will speak to the audience, then Chris will arrive to talk about the Drama Society followed by Roger in his Christmas outfit.
The play begins in the children’s bedroom.
Peter Pan Goes Wrong Act 2 programme notes.
Welcome back to Act 2. My name is Pauline, your describer for Peter Pan Goes Wrong. This part of the performance will run for approximately 52 minutes. We left the players salvaging their play as best they could and trying to adhere to the script whilst all is chaos around them, and Peter had crashed to the floor behind the scenery. Robert, in his pink onesie, welcomes us back and proceeds to regale us with tales of the past productions, interrupted bad temperedly, by Chris off stage and then finally Robert introduces the second Act and we are in a forest scene with a table, benches and stools set centrally end on to the audience. We join Wendy, Tinkerbell, Michael and John preparing an imaginary evening meal. Lucy appears in a wheelchair with her leg in a splint and Trevor does his best to cover for Peter Pan with disastrous results. Whilst the players are trying to continue with their dialogue, there are unrelated conversations heard off stage as the scene unfolds. After another hilarious scene we are taken to the lagoon, now containing the deck of the Jolly Roger. Hook and Smee are there with Wendy, John and Michael. All, again, does not go smoothly and the scenes start to change unexpectedly although the players still desperately stick to their script. All is bedlam and the characters are all caught unawares, some in compromising situations. The finale finally takes place in the nursery with an unexpected proposal heard off stage when the curtain goes down.
The next audio performance is To kill a Mocking Bird on Sat April 18th @2.30p.m.
Word total 295 Time taken approx. 3 minutes.