At the beginning of the adaptation process, there is always a great deal of apprehension in choosing a new light to cast on the story. J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan was no exception, and was perhaps more daunting due to its pivotal place in our culture’s lore. My research of orphans in history led me down a path for the show entirely new to me: the story of the Wolf Children (Wolfskinder), a group of German children who sought refuge in Lithuania after the war, often referred to as Hitler’s last victims. Out of the 5,000 who made it to Lithuania, only a few hundred survived due to the unforgiving nature of the environment. Today, fewer than 100 of these Wolf Children live to tell their stories. It is now more important than ever, in this age of information, that we share and record personal histories not found in traditional textbooks. The beloved Peter Pan seemed like the perfect platform on which to showcase this lost fragment of history.
Peter and the Wolf Children is the final production in our theatre season addressing the question “What is tragedy?”. Considering it opens with the death of three children, the fact that it is a tragedy is almost undisputable. But what is it about death that seems so tragic to us? It is the most natural part of life, and yet we so often treat it as an anomaly. What this play addresses about the nature of tragedy is its synonymity with futility. We feel a sense of loss for the children because their future is futile. They, quite literally, can never grow up. But this show also confronts the aftermath of tragedy: hope, the force of un-futility. After darkness, we search for light. After death, we hope for an afterlife. And as our conclusion to this season’s theme, it seems only natural that Peter and the Wolf Children would address how we learn to accept our own tragedies and find hope in the future, as different as it may be from the one we imagined.
Though a draft of the script had been prepared by the first rehearsal, the company went into the rehearsal process with the understanding that the script was malleable. No play can come to life from a page without collaboration between the playwright, director, and actors. Throughout readings and scene work, each actor offered unique insight to his or her character, working towards the ultimate goal of bettering the show. Without this exact production team, we would have a different show, as each collaborator has left his or her mark on the production. Peter and the Wolf Children is, at its heart, a piece of devised theatre, a work original to our cast and crew. We could not be more honored to premier it in the Sewickley Academy community.
Thank you, and enjoy the show!
Katherine Busatto
