Laughter, heartache, and pixie dust aplenty in “Finding Neverland”
Raider Times photo / Courtesy of Carol Rosegg
Ben Krieger as Peter Llewelyn Davies and Christine Dwyer as Sylvia Llewelyn Davies from a production of “Finding Neverland,” which is playing at Boston Opera House through Aug. 20, 2017
August 15, 2017
We’ve all heard the story of Peter Pan and his pirate-fighting adventures in Neverland, where fairies and mermaids are a majority of the population and pixie dust is a must. But do you know the story that inspired the adventure?
“Finding Neverland” is the story of the man behind Peter Pan. The inspiration, process, and people behind the iconic story are all depicted in this precursor to the tale.
It follows the adventures of J.M. Barrie, the future creator of Neverland who is currently a playwright for a theatre company in London. In a bout of writer’s block, he chooses a local London park as his writer’s retreat.
During his writing session, he is ambushed on a park bench by a band of young boys absorbed in a game of pirates. Their frantically apologetic mother, Sylvia, and Barrie talk while the boys’ imaginary adventure unfolds in the park. He shows her the latest piece he’s been working on, which she states bares a striking resemblance to many of his past works. This, he realizes is the issue, and leads him on a quest for not only a new tale to tell, but also himself whom he has lost along the way.
“Finding Neverland” is a unique play in how it can fit into multiple categories due to comedic and tragic elements which combine to form a coming-of-age story. It has a little bit of everything, making it an enjoyable show for all audiences.
While the correlations between this tale and Peter Pan are apparent, they are not glaring, allowing the audience to piece it together rather than spelling it out for them.
The story itself is powerful in how it portrays the unfolding events, the actors stunningly convey the deeper meanings of the play not just through their words, but their emotions as well. The younger actors were especially impressive in their performances, their age did not hinder their rendition in the slightest. There was also a delightful, furry surprise regarding the role of Nana the nurse.
The music accompanying the play was subtle, there to only guide the journey, not lead it. The choreography and special effects were truly outstanding, the best of which came during the final song of the first act, and will absolutely blow you away, literally leaving you shaking in your boots.
The performance overall was near-flawless, with only minor annoyances. On the technical side of things, a projector was used for the multiple backgrounds used to change the scenery. This caused some issues, including unwanted shadows, a dirty-looking wall was seen through the projection, and some images were just visually unappealing.
In addition to the projector, there were some issues regarding the singing, in some instances where a song featured multiple actors it felt as though they weren’t in synch, there was a lack of chemistry between some cast members resulting in a noticeable difference in some of the numbers. However, this is the plight of live theatre, and one must remember that it is indeed just that, live.
The slight issues did not deter from the play as a whole in any way, as the emotionally powerful storyline outshone any technical difficulty.
“Finding Neverland” told an impactful tale full of laughter, heartache, and pixie dust.
(“Finding Neverland” is playing at Boston Opera House Aug. 8-20, 2017. For more information, go tohttp://boston.broadway.com/.)
–Aug. 14, 2017–
