During the month of October, “Peter and the Starcatcher” debuted. The play is a prequel to “Peter Pan” and follows Peter, a Lost Boy played by senior Polina Sysoeva, and his decision to stay in Neverland and live a life without parents. 

On his adventure to Neverland, Peter meets Molly Aster, played by junior Elizabeth Dusek, aboard her father’s ship, the Wasp. The Wasp sails in search of the imaginary kingdom of Rundoon, where Molly’s father, Lord Leonard Aster must be the new ambassador to King Zarboff III. Across the bay on a dangerous reef, the fearsome and cruel pirate by the name of Black Stach and his first mate Smee are after the mysterious treasure the Wasp carries. This treasure must be protected for centuries, or else it may go into the wrong hands – and the family heirloom would be lost forever.

“It is a background story of all the characters from Peter Pan before they got their powers and before they ended up being on the island of Neverland, and technically Wendy’s mother, Captain Hook, Smee and the Tick Tock crocodile,” said cast member, costume department member and junior Mia McCabe. 

The entire cast and crew worked for months and took time out of their busy schedules to produce this production. The crew even used lunch periods to practice and make sure all preparations were ready to go. 

“Many hours of hard work have been put into it, and it’s nice to see the outcome. I’m most excited about seeing the audience’s reactions as well as being up onstage with my friends,” said lead cast member, costume lead and junior Elizabeth Dusek.

The various actors and backstage members were able to work in a combined effort to meet their deadline of Thursday, Oct. 20. There were a variety of different costumes on stage as well as background sound effects and singing that occurred during each act.

“This show was a lot with all of the different characters and costume changes and sounds and the really quick pacing of it, but it all came together really well and I’m proud of everyone for pulling it off,” said assistant director and sophomore Addison O’Grady. 

With all the costume changes that the play required, the costume team worked hard to turn cast members into their characters. 

“As soon as those costumes come on, something magic happens. And it really literally turns people into their characters. They all flow together. I loved all the mermaid-like costumes,” McCabe said. “The costume team just put so much work in, like manual labor and hours and blood sweat, and tears and I’m just so proud of them and I thank them so much for all their work and they just did an amazing job.” 

Even though every member devoted time to making the production as perfect as it could be, there were still obstacles encountered along the way. 

“The biggest concern I had was off-timing which is the worst because there are so many times you need to be precise, such as music and just saying your lines within the little sound cues that we have it’s difficult to get it perfect,” said cast member and sophomore Dean Fronk. 

Despite the setbacks endured by the cast members, audience members believe that this play was a near-perfect production.

“I loved the witty banter between the characters, the mermaid scene was definitely the best, overall it was really well done and I have a ton of respect for the work and commitment it must have taken,” said audience member and sophomore Brayden Andera. 

Throughout many months of hard work, the crew has been working on their different roles in the play to have three successful nights of production. 

“[Peter and The Starcatcher] has been coming together, almost like clockwork. We all are part of this system where we all know our cues, our sets are getting better every day, and we all have fun while doing it,” cast member, costume team member and senior Krishanu Nigam said.