There’s a lot going on in “Peter & the Starcatcher,” Hinsdale Central drama group’s fall play, including ships on the high seas, a mysterious trunk, pirates, jungle dwellers, mistreated orphans, mermaids and a magical substance called starstuff.
“This is a dream show for me,” said the director and Central English teacher Susan Jaffe. “It is so fantastical.”
The play by Rick Elice, based on novels by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, tells the story of how an unnamed orphan boy becomes Peter Pan of Neverland.
“It tells the back story of a beloved children’s bedtime story,” Jaffe said. “I was waiting for the perfect year and the perfect group of kids and I found it in this cast. They are so imaginative.”
The cast and crew’s imagination is important, because, Jaffe said, “so much of what we do in theater is not on the page. The script might say ‘Two ships converge.’ We have to figure out how we are going to do that, with our blocking, with our sound, with our lighting, with our props.”
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Emily Laughman, a senior from Hinsdale who is in charge of the props, is working on her 17th show at Central, all as a member of the crew.
Laughman said she prefers hanging out backstage and getting everything ready as opposed to memorizing lines.
Some of the props are rented from Drury Lane Theatre and some she designed and made, with help from her father, such as the cut-outs of a sailing ship and Peter Pan that will be used to project shadow silhouettes.
Colin Kurimay, a sophomore from Clarendon Hills, is part of the crew that built the sets from scratch over the past month.
The sets, which include moving staircases, a fort and island greenery, are more extensive than those in last year’s fall production of “!984.”
“Everything was more minimalist for that play,” Kurimay said.
Despite the magic and fairy tale nature of the story, A. J. Andersen, who plays Peter, said, “There are some hard-hitting scenes, such as when Peter starts remember how he was abused in the orphanage.”
The last scene, too, when Molly and Peter have to separate is touching, Andersen said.
Peter and the Starcatcher
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14 and Friday, Nov. 15; 5 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 16
Where: Auditorium at Hinsdale Central High School, 5500 S. Grant St., Hinsdale
Tickets: $10; free to students with their activity pass. Tickets can be bought at the door or online at ticketpeak.com/hcdrama.