Yesterday I took my son John to see his first show on stage: Peter Pan.
It was something I've been dreaming about for so many years, before I even had a child. I remember the first time I read the Peter Pan novelization, and the description of Mrs Darling wishing that two year old Wendy could "stay this way forever", thinking how strange it must feel to be a parent, and to simultaneously want your children to grow up but also stop time so they can be young forever. I always imagined if I had children, taking them to see Peter Pan would be such a magical experience.
This story is so important to me in so many different ways: as a child, as a reader, as a Children's Literature scholar and a librarian, and as a parent now.
I've been interacting with Peter Pan texts for most of my life: the Disney animated movie, the book, the cartoon Peter Pan and the Pirates, and movies such as Hook (1991), Peter Pan (2003), Finding Neverland (2004) and Wendy (2020).
I played Peter Pan games when I was a little, and now I read the books (including sequels and reimaginings). I've done multiple papers on themes in the story for college and graduate classes and I never get tired of it.
Seeing it on stage with my own child though might be one of the most important ways I've experienced this stpry, and even though the story continually gets updated and adapted for audiences, in order to keep it relevant and relatable, the heart is still the same.
I spoke in a podcast about the performance, and how it demonstrates the changes to the text over time, so I'll leave off with that:
