IRONDALE ENSEMBLE PROJECTNEWSNEWS Fall 2001 “SPECIAL NEVERLAND ISSUE” Volume 5 No. 1 RROOSSEESS IINN DDEECCEEMMBBEERR:: INVENTING JAMES M. BARRIE WONDERLAND AND HIS SEARCH FOR The Development and Purpose THE LOST BOY of Children’s Literature from the By Michael-David Gordon 19th century to the early 20th By Melissa Jayme God gave us memory so that we The 19th century marked the might have roses in December. emergence of children’s literature with On April 6, 1960, the New York color illustrations that helped readers Times proclaimed: BARRIE’S PETER visualize the characters and the PAN KILLED BY LONDON TRAIN. The stories. Although the history of spin was that a mere mortal, in this children’s literature dates back to the case a mild-mannered book executive 600’s, few authors wrote books intended named Peter Davies, had decided to specifically for children before the end his life. The headlines PETER’S 1800’s. Children’s books prior to this DEATH LEAP and THE END OF THE focused on instruction of behavior and ETERNAL BOY blared from some of beliefs; ideas which reflected the moral the more imaginative periodicals. One ideals of their time. paper opined: “Until he died at the age Four of the most revered works of 63, Peter Davies was Peter Pan – in children’s literature were published the boy who would never grow up.” between 1865 and 1926 – Alice’s Peter Davies grew up to hate the J. M. Barrie as Captain Hook and Michael Davie as Peter. Adventures in Wonderland, The Wind comparison. To him it seemed to lodge older brother David with many stories. that was dead: in those twenty-nine in the Willows, Peter Pan and The itself in his existence in a way that Some of those stories or idylls came years he was not removed one day Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. made it extremely difficult to forge his out of the Old Lights religious sect of farther from her.” As a result of his These four classics fall into the genre own life, indeed – to grow up. Judging which she had long been a member. mother’s emotional distance from him, of modern fantasy, which is defined as from the various headlines of the day, Barrie’s writing communicates how he, in turn, grew distant from the world. events, settings or characters that are one could surmise that whatever his devoted he was to his mother and his At the Dumfries Academy he outside the realm of possibility and accomplishments were as a publisher, taking up of the storytelling tradition busied himself with many activities and which often contain truths to help the they were all but irrelevant when was largely a tribute to her – as well as took to visiting the local theater. It was reader understand the world in which bathed in the glaring light of the little an effort for recognition in her eyes. there that Barrie began to fuse his he or she lives. boy from Neverland. There are those At the age of six, tragedy hit love of the stage with his penchant for Some of the works that are who would find no small measure of the Barrie family. His older brother storytelling. He founded the Dumfries now considered children’s classics irony in the fact that the source of the David perished in a skating accident at Dramatic Club where he produced his were not primarily written for children. late Mr. Davies’ misery was created by Sanford Pool, near Oxford. While the first play, Bandelero the Bandit. His first Instead, they were political satires. For the man who literally worshipped him – entire family was devastated, it was his success as a writer came as a journalist example, in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s the Scottish author James M. Barrie. mother who was hit the hardest. Barrie for the Nottingham Journal with a Adventures in Wonderland, many of I have lost trout because when they spent the rest of his life attempting to fill series of short articles called Auld Licht the events that occur during the course nibbled, my mind was wandering with his brother’s shoes and winning her Idylls. The stories, inspired by his of Alice’s adventures are rooted in her: my early life was embittered by her affection by being a successful writer. mother’s childhood adventures in her English culture: tea parties, croquet not arriving regularly. Unfortunately, her grief over David’s hometown of Kurriemuir, were an games and awkward encounters with death intensified as the years went on. instant success. The stories read very royalty. Many of Alice’s running conver- James Matthew Barrie was In his mother’s “biography” Margaret much like the modern day Tales of the sations with herself reflect aspects of born on May 9, 1860, in Kirriemuir, Ogilvy, he wrote: “she lived twenty-nine City – the series of articles that appeared Victorian childhood and education: her Scotland, a small craft community. His years after his (David’s) death – but I in the pages of the San Francisco constant concern about good manners, mother, Margaret, regaled him and his had not made her forget the part of her Chronicle written by Armistead Maupin. her study of Latin, her mediocre Continued on page 7 Continued on page 5 Irondale Ensemble Project Non Profit P.O. BOX 150604 Organization U.S. Postage Paid BROOKLYN, NEW YORK 11215-0604 New York, NY WWW.IRONDALE.ORG 5443 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED PETER PAN By J. M. Barrie NOVEMBER 20 - DECEMBER 22 TUESDAYS THROUGH SATURDAYS AT 8 PM Theatre for the New City 155 First Avenue (Between 9th and 10th Streets) FOR RESERVATIONS CALL (718) 488-9233 OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.IRONDALE.ORG. K EEP THE N IGHT-LIGHTS B URNING Irondale Ensemble Project Mission/Vision Statement Background By Terry Greiss flies low overhead or a siren whizzes The Irondale Ensemble Project is a direct descendent of the ensemble past, we notice it more acutely than on movement in American theater, birthed in the cauldron of the Great J. M. Barrie wrote: “I don’t September 10th. Let’s not even talk Depression and coming of age through the progressive politics of the 1960’s. know whether you have ever seen a about common flu-like symptoms or Irondale was founded as a reaction to and as an argument with a theater that has become increasingly wed to the “entertainment industry” and “market map of a person’s mind. Doctors some- skin rashes. We are also told that since culture”. times draw maps of other parts of you, September 11th, “everything has but catch them trying to draw a map of changed.” Of course it hasn’t. It’s still Mission a child’s mind. There are astonishing the same world as it was the day splashes of colour here and there, and before; the dangers existed then as We create theater that is a strong voice for social change, and is characterized by a deep commitment to artistic excellence. Through the content of our coral reefs and savages and lonely now, the country was as vulnerable as performances, and by using theater as an educational tool in schools, lairs, and caves through which a river now. But certainly with the attack on prisons, shelters, and other community settings, we believe that we have a runs... On these shores children are the World Trade Center the clock direct, often life-changing affect on our audience. Central to our work is an forever beaching their coracles. By day started ticking the “two minutes before exploration of collaboration, creativity, pedagogy and the process of theater it is not in the least alarming, but in the you go to sleep.” So our night-lights are making, through the long association of professional artists. We conduct this exploration in traditional and non-tradional theater spaces. two minutes before you go to sleep it turned up as bright as we can make becomes very real. That is why there them. We don’t want to be afraid. Vision are night-lights.” In our post 9/11 Neverland, as Here in America, it feels like in Barrie’s, Lost Boys kill pirates and Irondale combines research, education and performance to create socially the nursery night-lights are on. We are killed themselves with real swords. relevant theater. have been told that people are afraid, Five thousand people are dead – here. We believe that any room or space where people gather can become a and perhaps that’s true. I certainly see There’s “regrettable collateral damage” theater; any group of participants is an audience. evidence of it, even among friends and in Afghanistan. We are looking for solu- family. Some describe themselves as tions which will help us cope. These We serve a community that is defined by a common willingness to confront feeling more “vulnerable” than before. include offering our K-12 graders the ideas and engage in inquiry; it transcends class, race and geographic boundary. Many of us find it more difficult to opportunity to pledge allegiance to the “focus” or concentrate. When a subway American Flag and sing patriotic songs Irondale rejects the values of dominant culture forms that want us tranquilized, train stalls between stations, a plane to each other. Our leaders ask us to want us to no longer recognize ourselves, and want to colonize our stay on “high alert, but go imaginations. about business as usual”. Finally, we believe in and trust the value of our own idealism. This is ultimately It conjures up humorous what sustains the company, infuses the work with hope, and allows us to ways of shopping for pass on particular working methods to other artists and groups who seek to groceries, or crossing create healthier, more vital and more beautiful communities however they streets, or opening mail.