As this bittersweet installment of Behind the Curtain marks the end of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival’s summer season, it feels only fitting to close out the column with “Peter and the Starcatcher”, a play that encapsulates the joy and playfulness of pretending.
Long-time cast members at ISF, Joe Wegner and Angela Utrera, who play Black Stache and Molly in “Peter and the Starcatcher,” discussed the magic of the show and its ties to the iconic story of “Peter Pan”.
“Everything that is [featured] in the play somehow makes it into the original Peter Pan,” Utrera said. “There are some new puppets and animals and magic. One of my favorite things about ‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ is it explains the origin of pixie dust.”
One of the new characters audiences will encounter is Molly, Wendy Darling’s mother. While crafting the character, Utrera explained she looked to the historical context of England in 1885.
“I took inspiration from Queen Victoria — I obviously didn’t want to play Wendy. One of the most surprising elements about Molly and playing her is that she is very different from who you’d think Wendy’s mother is,” Utrera said of her character. “She has this fascination with female leadership and is living in a world where Queen Victoria is the leader of her country, so I just looked at what was going on in her life at that time.”
While Black Stache is not a new character to the story of Peter Pan, Wegner explored what Captain Hook would be like in his youth, drawing inspiration from films like “Hook” (1991), which offer a deeper understanding of the character.
“I did a lot of research. I watched all the different versions of Captain Hook and put my own interpretation based on this text, which is really fast-paced, farcical and witty,” Wegner said. “This version of Captain Hook is very poetic and he thinks of himself as an intellectual and I took all of that and then added my own physicality and perception to the role.”
As you explore Neverland, you also encounter the original Lost Boys in all their goofy glory, as well as some mystical and hilarious mermaids.
One of the key themes of the play is leaning into childhood wonder and imagination. Utrera described the process of living in this storyline as both heartbreaking and healing.
“It is heartbreaking and very healing to be able to play a child and grow into an adult as the play continues,” she said. “Our director always says play is literally playing and when I was a child I was playing all the time, the number one priority was to play and find that sense of wonder.”
“Growing up does not mean giving up on wonder,” Utrera continued. “It means protecting it.”
Despite playing an adult, Wegner said the character of Black Stache still possesses a sense of childlike playfulness.
“I get to play the juxtaposition to that which is the adult,” he said. “But ironically, Stache is as childish as any character in the play and throws tantrums and fits, so there was that reconnection to that and weaving in the projection he puts on of how much he hates children from his childhood.”
Both Utrera and Wegner agreed while we may get older, there are ways to keep the magic of childhood alive.
“We don’t ever grow up. I think we grow up every day we have to,” Utrera began. “We adjust to social norms,” Wegner jumped in. “The norms of what you’re supposed to do as an adult. We are actors. We chose a profession that is literally going out and playing and pretending,” he said.
The audience is asked to ‘pretend’ in this play, with actors playing multiple roles and props being used to represent a multitude of objects. “If you jump on that imagination train, you’re going to have a good time,” Wegner said.
To witness the magic for yourself, come to “Peter and the Starcatcher” September 5-28 at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival.
