‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ at the Milwaukee Rep

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Photo Credit: Sandy Underwood

A few trunks and lengths of rope have become exciting trademarks and imaginative tools of the Broadway hit, Peter and the Starcatcher. Like the ship that sweeps the story’s heroes off to their adventure of a lifetime, the show quickly trusses up an audience and throws them in the bilge dungeon to laugh, love and weep entirely at the will of its storytellers.

Peter and the Starcatcher tells the tale of how a nameless young boy becomes the timeless character known as Peter Pan. He meets a young girl named Molly, the daughter of a famous Starcatcher on a secret mission for Queen Victoria, and the two embark on a journey filled with magic, danger and lessons on the meaning of bravery. The play is filled to bursting with a host of characters you feel you’ve met before, hinting cleverly at their future identities in the world of J.M. Barrie’s Neverland.

This incarnation of the show is a co-production between the Milwaukee Repertory Theater and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, a shared vision between respective Artistic Directors Mark Clements and Blake Robison. Robison, the show’s director, says there are several important aspects of a successful co-production: “The first is that the two artistic directors see eye to eye, that they share a point of view about what makes good theater and what kind of theatrical experience they want to provide to an audience.”

Clements has made such collaborations a signature of his career. “A lot of good can come out of a co-pro; they provide the opportunity for companies to put their brains together and create a shared experience between cities. Plays can be a really positive force for change by encouraging people to talk to one another.