PETER PAN: THE BOY WHO HATED MOTHERS
WORLD PREMIERE

Adapted and Directed by Michael Lluberes
Based on “Peter and Wendy” by J. M. Barrie

This radically fresh retelling of the JM Barrie classic is a theatrical event not to be missed. Exploring the original ideas and inspirations behind this iconic fantasy, Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers is a visceral new retelling of the story of the boy who wouldn’t grow up. This is Peter Pan as you have never seen it before but how it was always meant to be told.

Appropriate for ages 10 and up.

H Street Playhouse
1365 H Street NE, Washington, DC
February 8 – March 3, 2012
PAY WHAT YOU CAN – Feb 8 at 8:00 PM – Cash Only

Hanesbrands Theatre
209 N. Spruce Street, Winston-Salem, NC
March 20 – April 7, 2012
PAY WHAT YOU CAN – March 20 at 7:30 PM – Cash Only

Tickets: $25
Previews: $10
Student Rush $15 – available at the box office only, one hour prior to curtain

Featuring:
Adam Downs, Megan Graves, Lisa Hodsoll (NRTC Company Member), Maya Jackson, Nathaniel Mendez, John Evans Reese, and Joshua Rosenblum

Creative Team:
Tyler Budde, Steve Cosby, Becky Griffith, Theresa Hindersinn, Elisheba Ittoop, Casey Kaleba, Brandon R. McWilliams, Jennifer Mendenhall, Daniel Pinha, Eric Reynolds, Jesse R. Shipley, Carrie Wood

 

After meeting with adapter and director Michael Lluberes, I began to desire to tell a story of neglect through these characters, so it became important to show this disheveled quality in the clothing.  The design is quite stark and melancholy; the silhouette is loosely Victorian and the color pallet a bit gloomy. It’s simple but very deliberate.  When you have the opportunity of working with characters that live so vividly in the minds of many western theatregoers it can by such a thrilling and daunting task.  You must strive to find a balance between honoring the expectation of the icon and at the same time move them visually into a new world created for this particular incarnation of the myth.

 

Lisa Hodsoll (Mrs. Darling/Captain Hook)

What is the most exciting and challenging thing about playing such an iconic character?
Well it captures one’s imagination right off the bat.  There’s nothing dull about Hook.  Nor this Mrs. Darling truth be told.  And the fact of playing the dual role of Mrs. Darling and Hook and exploring the psychological through line between the two is so wonderfully rich.   I suppose the most challenging thing is to be faithful to the complexity, the subtlety of the spirit that animates this story.  It is so wonderfully layered and embracing of contradictions.  It is important to always strive to arrive at that fullness of character and not just rest on the surface.
How do you approach playing a villian?
I approach a villain like I approach any character.  I try to understand that person inside out and build the reality that results in the action and the word.

What makes this version of Peter Pan different than the one we all grew up with? 
My long ago memory of Peter Pan was of a sugary world with fairies and adventures and daring do.  This Peter Pan is haunted and haunting, still full of whimsy and delight but with a dark undercurrent to it.  I think it captures the spirit and sensibility that provoked the original.  Like Alice In Wonderland, it speaks to the child in all of us as well as to the adult and provides no pat answers or easy (read forgettable) ending.  This Peter Pan is about the tragedy of Peter as well as our own.  We are tragic because we must grow up, grow old and put aside childish things.  But Peter is tragic because he can’t.  He is ever relegated to Neverland, somewhere between the betwixt and the between and straight on til morning, needing others to tell him stories of himself and the life that he forgets as fast as he lives it.

Lisa Hodsoll (Mrs. Darling/Captain Hook) is so thrilled to be performing in her third No Rules Production. She first performed with No Rules in the role of Lindsay in Some Girl(s) and then Kathleen in Touch. She recently performed the role of Josie in A Moon for the Misbegotten with the Heritage-O’Neill Theater Company and the role of Lizzie B in A Magnificent Waste with Factory 449. Other area credits include The Saint Plays and 4.48 Psychosis with Factory 449, Bennie in Splinters at The Source Festival, Heidi in The Heidi Chronicles, Sarah in Spinning into Butter, and Lisa in Well with Theater Hopkins.

PETER PAN: THE BOY WHO HATED MOTHERS
WORLD PREMIERE
Adapted and Directed by Michael Lluberes
Based on “Peter and Wendy” by J. M. Barrie

This radically fresh retelling of the J.M. Barrie classic is a theatrical event not to be missed. Exploring the original ideas and inspirations behind this iconic fantasy, Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers tells the visceral story of the boy who wouldn’t grow up in a way you have never seen it before but how it was always meant to be told. Appropriate for ages 10 and up.

H Street Playhouse
1365 H Street NE, Washington, DC
February 8 – March 3, 2012

Hanesbrands Theatre
209 N. Spruce St., Winston-Salem, NC
March 20 – April 7, 2012 

Tickets: $25   Previews: $10
Student Rush $15 – at the box office only, 1-hour before curtain
DC PAY WHAT YOU CAN – February 8 at 8:00 PM
Winston-Salem PAY WHAT YOU CAN – March 20 at 7:30 PM

For Tickets and More Information CLICK HERE

John Evans Reese (Peter Pan)

What’s the most exciting part of playing Peter Pan?
The most exciting part of playing Peter Pan for me is PLAYING PETER PAN!!! What boy doesn’t want to be Peter Pan? He does every cool thing in the deck. He flies. He’s the best sword fighter in two realms. He can get the girl with a snap of his fingers (though, he’s not quite sure he wants ‘er). AND, he will NEVER GROW UP! Also, Peter Pan has always been a huge part of my life. To be playing a part that I’ve dreamed about since I was a child is a huge gift. I am incredibly grateful every day. I think the most challenging aspect about playing an iconic character like Peter Pan is that he already lives in most people’s subconscious. People know the story – how are we going to shake the ideas in their heads and make it fresh? That is our biggest challenge. I think with Michael Lluberes’ guidance and vision, we’ll give Cathy Rigby a run for her money.

What made you want to adapt such a well known story?
From the depths of J.M. Barrie’s own longing, he crafted a potent myth about what it means to grow up. Peter Pan is a bloody battle and a delicate dance between children and adults.

How is this version of Peter Pan different than the story we all grew up with?
This is a dark new re-telling of Peter Pan. Using one of Barrie’s own original titles “The Boy Who Hated Mothers”, we hope to unlock the darker mysteries buried deep inside his masterpiece.

 What is most exciting and most challenging about this project?
Peter Pan is a beautiful allegory about the pain and inevitability of growing up. Barrie brilliantly explored the terrain of a child’s psychology and imagination in this work. This new Peter Pan will be a dangerous game of make believe, a dark exploration of the of a child – both a child’s dream and nightmare and an examination of the relationship between mothers and children. I want to create a theatrical playground of childhood memory and imagination.

Michael’s writing/directing credits include: THE BOY IN THE BATHROOM (New York Musical Theatre Festival, NYMF Most Promising New Musical Award, Best Book, ASCAP/Disney Musical Theatre Workshop with Stephen Schwartz, New World Stages Workshop, Penn State Festival of New Musicals, The Chance Theater, The Festival of New American Musicals), THE GERANIUM ON THE WINDOWSILL JUST DIED (Urban Stages), PETER PAN: THE BOY WHO HATED MOTHERS (Kennedy Center Page-to-Stage Festival). Directing credits include: TWELFTH NIGHT (Sonnet Repertory Theatre), NIGHTTIME TRAFFIC (NYMF), ONE THOUSAND CATS (HBO’s Funny Or Die Presents). As an actor, he has appeared in DIRTY DANCING (National Tour), Off-Broadway in AMERICAN DREAMS: LOST AND FOUND, PUDD’NHEAD WILSON, THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, AS YOU LIKE IT (The Acting Company), HEAVEN KNOWS (Ensemble Studio Theatre). REGIONAL THEATRE: The Old Globe, Cincinnati Playhouse, St. Louis Rep, Casa Mañana, Capital Rep, Maltz Jupiter, Pioneer Theatre Company. TV: “CHAPPELLE’S SHOW”, “TOUGH CROWD”. He is the recipient of The American Harmony Prize, NEA New Artist Initiative Award/Hambidge Residency, Anna Sosenko Trust Award and Richard Rodgers Award Finalist. EDUCATION: North Carolina School of the Arts. Member of The Acting Company, Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab and The Dramatists Guild. www.MichaelLluberes.com

PETER PAN: THE BOY WHO HATED MOTHERS
WORLD PREMIERE
Adapted and Directed by Michael Lluberes
Based on “Peter and Wendy” by J. M. Barrie

This radically fresh retelling of the J.M. Barrie classic is a theatrical event not to be missed. Exploring the original ideas and inspirations behind this iconic fantasy, Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers tells the visceral story of the boy who wouldn’t grow up in a way you have never seen it before but how it was always meant to be told. Appropriate for ages 10 and up.

H Street Playhouse
1365 H Street NE, Washington, DC
February 8 – March 3, 2012

 Hanesbrands Theatre
209 N. Spruce St., Winston-Salem, NC
March 20 – April 7, 2012 

Tickets: $25   Previews: $10
Student Rush $15 – at the box office only, 1-hour before curtain

For Tickets and More Information
CLICK HERE