Peter Pan takes flight

By Purnima Pilapitiya

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Pic by Amila Gamage

School maybe out for the holidays but the comfortably noisy soundtrack of boys doesn’t seems to have left the halls of St. Joseph’s College. Add to this some music, clashing swords and the random sound of a rooster crowing and you’ve got yourself something a bit more magical to investigate.

Tomorrow night the cast of Peter Pan will take the first flight of their musical production. Based on the beloved story by J.M Barrie, the tale of the boy who never grew up and dreamy Neverland have enjoyed a place in childrens’ bedtime stories. This week the Mirror Magazine catches up with the mixed cast of Josephians, Bridgeteens and members of Cold Theatre 7 to catch a glimpse of their unique take on the 1954 musical.

What remains interesting about the production, other than the fact that this is the first time local audiences will get to watch “Peter Pan- the Musical” are the alternate casts, each actor lending their own interpretation to the characters. Playing two very different kinds of Neverland’s most formidable pirates are Dulika Jayamanne and Reihan Stephen.

Both Dulika and Reihan who are old Joes are no strangers to the stage. Reihan who is “primarily a singer” is at home in the musical theatre genre having played roles in the Workshop Players’ “The Phantom of the Opera” and more recently Monsieur Thénardier in “Les Miserable” With a resume of caricatured, loud portrayals behind him, diving into Hook’s character arc has proven to push his boundaries he adds.

The iconic, mustachioed Hook is not just the leading villain but also Peter Pan’s biggest foe. Although Dulika Jayamanne has little experience with musical theatre, the actor has almost always found himself cast as a villain. Playing a different pirate captain to Reihan’s more sinister Hook, Dulika was first drawn to the character watching Dustin Hoffman’s curly haired, pirate in the 1991 Steven Spielberg classic “Hook”.

Though Dulika is once again in the villain’s shoes, he’s bringing to life a more vulnerable, desperate Hook. Picture the swag of Jeremy Rush’s Captain Barbossa from Pirates of the Caribbean to Reihan’s scarier, crocodilian Hook. Both actors are looking forward to Hook’s spotlight moment, where audiences will get to see the fearsome pirate waltz and share his story.

Natalie Ranasinghe

While Hook’s waltz is one of the few dance numbers for the pirate, playing the Red Indian princess Tiger Lilly is apparently all dance. Stepping into her shoes are Ayushka Nugaliyadda, Mihara Jayalath and Dinesha Senaratne. All three dancers are also comfortable actresses with the three having performed in musical theatre. Dinesha, trained at Deanna School of Dance and has worked with the Workshop Players since “Evita” and played an equally dance heavy role as the ballerina Meg Giry in “The Phantom of the Opera”. Both Mihara and Ayushka joined last year’s “Les Miserable” and have been dancing -tap and jazz together since they were two and a half and singing with Marianne David.

Although all three of them are dancers, they are finding the energetic exhausting role of Tiger to be challenging in terms of the movement. The rigid, strong female figure is often portrayed as an antithesis to Wendy, but the girls are discovering the compassionate side to the princess as well, although this version of the play deals with very adult themes explains Ayushka, there’s still the feel of magic about the production. When Jasmine Sherifdeen, Natalie Ranasinghe and Vinuri Weerawardena remember watching the Disney version of Peter Pan as youngsters, they all thrived on the magic of the story but not much on the ringlets and massive bow of the constantly nagging Wendy Darling. Playing the leading female role however has opened up new layers to the character, the girls admit; though 13 year old Jasmine doesn’t mind the hyper girly “soppy character” she smiles shyly.

At nineteen years old, both Natalie and Vinuri are taking back their previous opinions about the oldest Miss Darling. “You feel sorry for her” explains Natalie who can relate to the confusion and emotional conflict Wendy faces during her transition of child to ‘grown up’. For Vinuri, who played a similar figure as Cozette in the 2015 “Les Miserable”, Wendy is proving to become a new favourite. “She’s responsible and unconventional for her time” she explains.

Joining Daniel is Leeth Sinhage (14). Both boys have enjoyed time on stage- Leeth in the school Shakespeare drama competitions and more recently Kevin Cruze’s “The Mousetrap”and Daniel as the lead in the St. Joseph’s College production “Oliver”, Shakespeare and more recently Jehan Aloysius’s Pyramus and Thisby.

For Leeth, coming in for practices expecting the play to be the Disney version,he was pleasantly surprised by the more mature additions, his favourite scene he says, the final battle between Peter and Hook. Amidst the action and danger he has to be a part of, there’s also space for an upbeat song. His favourite number- “I’ve Gotta Crow”.

Dulika Jayamanne

For Daniel, who has to play Pan as an adult- the 20 year old is shrugging off the more childish Peter for one that makes more sense with regard to his obvious age and appearance. “It’s not that he doesn’t want to grow up,” explains Daniel who has developed a character arc that is Freudian in his research and analysis. Although the Broadway version plays on the romance between Peter and Wendy, Daniel explores the sentiment in a more psychological fashion. “It’s a struggle between romantic and maternal feelings,” he tries to describe Peter’s relationship with Wendy, the girl he substitutes for the mother he never had. Although he has doubts, Peter’s internal struggle between his strong principles and obvious childishness proving to be an interesting challenge. Another more innovative addition is the presence of female pirates and Indians, a welcome addition on the part of their director Kevin Cruze, adding to the novel spin on the children’s classic.

St. Joseph’s College, in collaboration with Cold Theatre 7 featuring St. Bridget’s Convent, present “Peter Pan – The Musical” from December 12-18 at 7.30 pm (and matinees at 3 pm over the weekend) at the Lionel Wendt Theatre. Tickets priced at Rs. 3,000, 2,500, 1,500, 1000 and balcony 700 are available at the Lionel Wendt.