KENSINGTON GARDENS - Peter Pan

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PETER PAN COMES HOME“All perambulators lead to Kensington Gardens”Barrie, J. M. (2006). The Little White Bird. First World Library.For the first time since it was first conceived, Peter Pan has come to home to the place in which it wasoriginally created. Barrie saw Kensington Gardens as the home of childhood adventures. The statue of Peteris already here and now his friends are joining him to re-enact his adventure. It is therefore the most perfectlocation for a production of Peter Pan. This could be described as a site-specific performance, designedspecifically for both Kensington Gardens and for the Never Land Pavilion. Site-specific theatre is concernedwith exploring the boundaries of theatrical experience. Generally, a site-specific performance fully exploitsthe properties, qualities and meanings of a given site. This type of live performance can take place in anylocation from bus depots to old factories. The one thing they have in common is that they are staged in anon-conventional space. The Never Land Pavilion does have some of the trappings of a more conventionaltheatre but its technical possibilities are greater. Elements of Bill Dudley’s stunning design are inspired by thegeography of the gardens and, at first sight, Never Land looks like Bird Island in the Serpentine. The designallows the audience to be totally surrounded by Never Land and therefore experience the story in a unique way.REHEARSAL PROCESSINTERVIEW with ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, ELGIVA FIELD(during early rehearsals)Kirsty: What are your earliest memories of Peter Pan?Elgiva: Firstly, I was given the Peter Pan story by my godfather when I was very young. It had beautifulillustrations but I was too young to be able to read it. It was read to me. Also my aunt had been in anamateur pantomime version of the story, and my earliest memory is of seeing her in the show. I thinkthat’s true of a lot of people. The story has a strong connection with their childhood. If I could be achild again then I definitely would! So, doing this show is a great excuse to be a child again! That’swhy I really wanted to do it. Also, it’s such a pioneering project and there are so many elements thatare being incorporated that I’ve never seen in any theatrical production before.Kirsty: How will this production differ from past productions of Peter Pan?Elgiva: It’s in a tent for a start and that tent is going to be in Kensington Gardens. It will be the first time thatPeter Pan has been staged there. It was a big inspiration for J M Barrie and it’s where he probablyfirst enacted it; the idea of coming home gives a special quality to the show. There is the size of thecompany; it’s quite a big company for Peter Pan. Compared to my aunt’s amateur production anyway!360 degree CGI is a massive and new pioneering event and Ben Harrison the director is incrediblyclever in the way that he is using it. It is there as a landscape, not a film, enhancing the story ratherthan dominating it. Also the way in which Ben and Fleur, the movement director, have been gettingthe actors to fly is interesting: they go up in the air and then it is the landscape that moves and itmakes the audience feel that they are flying too. I saw my first clip of this in action in the tenton a mobile phone and I felt that I was flying. And so I know the experience for the audience in the tentwill be incredibly powerful.6
Kirsty: Is it totally staged In The Round?Elgiva: Well, there is a tiny bit of stage that comes out at one end, but basically, yes. You are probably lookingat less than 20 degrees that aren’t. That’s a massive and epic element to try and orchestrate. It’sgreat to work with a director who can handle that so well. Ben has such a wealth of experience ofworking on promenade and site-specific, location-based, work. But it is also having attention to detail,knowing that an audience member is going to be able to see everything; there’s no hiding, no tricksand no falseness and that was another reason that I wanted to be involved. Just to learn that skill.Kirsty: Everything is exposed and yet you are still able to transport people and move them. That is theessence of theatre I guess; engaging the imagination of an audience.Elgiva: That’s the same ethos that Ben has in the way in which we create stuff and how we move betweenlocations and how things appear in Never Land. For example, the crocodile is constructed form loadsof coat hangers which have come from the Darling’s cupboard in their bedroom. The Ostrich puppetis made up of games equipment like their rugby ball and their shuttlecock - things that would be in achild’s imagination that they could concoct worlds from when they are asleep. There is a real honestyto that and a real simplicity.Kirsty: What have been the biggest challenges in rehearsal?Elgiva: The skill that I didn’t realise would require so much time is flying. The performers have to be athletesin order to fly because there is a lot of work using the core muscles. If you put your hand throughthe air, you don’t really encounter any resistance so it is actually very hard to turn and move yourself.It’s unlike swimming where you have got a resistance and you can push yourself around. Air is soflimsy by comparison that the actors have to work incredibly hard. You have to re-educate your bodyto learn how to move in the air as sometimes it’s not logical. Even looking like you’re flying badly, forexample, when the Darlings are learning to fly, is very difficult. It’s like watching people learn to walk again.Kirsty: What challenges do you think working in a theatre tent will pose to the actors and the production team?Elgiva: A lot of that we won’t know until we get there and start teching. We have an idea, but I’m sure thingswill crop up when we are there. Because it’s not a controlled environment in the same way that atheatre is, it might be things like heating - how hot or cold will it get during matinees or eveningshows? How will that affect the company? It might be the most basic things that we won’thave thought about, aside from the technicalities of the production. But for the actors it will be reallyenvironmental things as in a tent you are more exposed to them. But there is such a strong current ofthe elements in Never Land that it’s really appropriate.Kirsty: Did Ben find the time to do any rehearsal games or exercises with the actors?Elgiva: Yes, and he continues to do so. It’s two-fold: character building and also telling a story. We are alwaysmaking sure that we are telling the story coherently and that it all makes sense. Sometimes inrehearsals you get very used to the story and familiar with it, but things that make sense to us won’tnecessarily make sense to an audience being told it for the first time. An audience member only getsone go at hearing the story so we have got to be very precise. In addition, Ben does a lot of characterwork and has used some fantastic exercises, which are asking the characters to come into a roomwith objects that the rest of us don’t know about. They should not be explained or referenced in theplay, but they are objects important to that character. They have to be from outside of our story. Theactress playing Tiger Lily brought in some war paint that made her feel powerful, a bracelet that her7
Page 3 and 4: SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN J M BARRIE’
Page 5: Before writing Peter Pan, Barrie ha
Page 9 and 10: SCENE BY SCENE SYNOPSISEach scene h
Page 11 and 12: Lost BoysOn the ground, waiting for
Page 13 and 14: herself at his feet thanking him fo
Page 15 and 16: wants to come back with him to live
Page 17 and 18: “She was a lovely lady, with a ro
Page 19 and 20: THE PIRATESThe enemies of the Lost
Page 21 and 22: FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIESPeter Pan is a
Page 23 and 24: Exercise 2: Key Stage 1, 2 + 3Ask i
Page 25 and 26: Mrs. Darling:Peter:Mrs. Darling:Pet
Page 27 and 28: Exercise 3: Key stage 4What situati
Page 29 and 30: Exercise 2: Key stage 3 + 4Ask the
Page 31 and 32: NEVER POEMDiscussionAsk the student
Page 33 and 34: Exercise 3Ask the students to walk
Page 35: Peter: Yes.Wendy: Really?Peter: Yes

KENSINGTON GARDENS - Peter Pan

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