The Osbourn Theater department has had its first show of the year, called Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers. The show is a version of the famous story of Peter Pan, but more aligned with the original, darker version of the story than the story most of us know. This script was chosen by the actors themselves. “I found the right version for my students who get more excited about things with a little bit of a darker edge to them,” said Mr. Steven Kite, the director and producer of the production.

The darker atmosphere of the play was felt by the audience. “The story was very sad, and the ending hurt my heart a little. But I liked that because the whole play felt mysterious,” said Theodore Charlton, a member of the audience.

Not just the story was important, but also the actors that were performing. The process of becoming a character in a play is complicated. “First, we had auditions. We had the option to choose who we wanted to play, so I read for all of the characters. After that, we got called back. I got assigned the character Tootles,” said Brynna Thaxter, and freshman and an actor in the play.

After you get the character that you are assigned, you need to practice and remember the words that you need to say. “My first priority was getting my lines down. So I recorded the other characters’ lines and talked with them,” said Thaxter.

Some characters are easier to remember than others. “I’m happy for the role I got because it’s small, and this is my first time acting,” said Lamar Abouelkher, another actor in the play.

In the end, even with the smaller roles, all of their hard work paid off. “I thought the actors were really focused. They weren’t afraid to be really emotionally tense. It made you want to pay attention,” said Charlton.

A few other aspects that go into a play are the set and light designs, as well as makeup and costumes. “This show had a lot more sounds to it, compared to previous plays that I have worked on. There was a lot more lore to the set and it really immersed you,” said Kendall Herring, the main person in charge of the lighting on set.

Another part of making an immersive setting on stage is the set itself, and the props that come with it. This play had a very ambitious set design, and the students in the technical theatre classes put it all together.”I’m super proud of the final product. I think my students were lovely and worked very well, considering that there was a working slide and swing set on stage to use,” said Kite.

“I thought the costumes and the setting designs were great. I have some friends in theatre tech, so it was cool to see their effort pay off,” said Charlton. The students from technical theatre and the actors on stage all worked together to make this play a success.

“There were mistakes here and there, but it ended up being a really good show. I, and everyone else working on it, had a lot of fun,” said Abouelkher.

Creating a play is much more difficult than what might meet the eye.