Friday, Feb. 6, kicked off opening weekend for the Calvin Theatre Company’s (CTC) production of “Peter and the Starcatcher,” a fantasy-adventure adapted from the book Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. The fantastical, playful storyline takes viewers on a chaotic adventure through oceans and jungles, by pirate ship and flight, all while remaining on a backyard playground.

The plot

According to sophomore Sage Altman, who serves as one of the stage managers, CTC’s interpretation of the production has two plots: the meta-level plot and the actual plot. “The way that we’re viewing it is a group of teenagers get together one last time before they head off to college … to go back to their childhood playground and play for one last time together. That’s the meta level,” she said. “The actual plot is [that] we are introduced to a collection of different characters, … and it’s a prequel to, essentially, Peter Pan. … And so it’s a collection of characters that we know, that we adore already, but we see them in a different way.”

Director John Scritchfield noted that “Peter and the Starcatcher” “is also a story about finding your place and becoming what you want to be.” Scritchfield explained, “There inevitably came a day when we all played with our childhood friends for the last time and didn’t know it. This is a story about a group of friends who were intentional with that last day, got together at their favorite tree house, and played pretend one last time.” He expressed praise for the cast, noting that the unique story “created a fun ensemble but also presented opportunities for the cast to go way off the rails with their Looney Tunes energy. It was a challenge they rose to meet, however, displaying the kind of dedication we strive for in CTC.”

The set

Joshua Zietse, CTC’s technical director and designer, designed and directed the construction of the set. The set includes a wooden playground, featuring a slide, swing set, tree house and mini-rockwall. 

Zietse said that the concept for the set started with reading the script and working with Scritchfield to come up with ideas. “John [Scritchfield] knew early on that he wanted to toy with the idea of a childhood playground-type environment and floated the idea of maybe doing a tree house. I am quite fond of outdoor or organic elements in sets so I was immediately excited by this possibility,” Zietse said. He noted that the playground elements of the set were specifically inspired by a combination of Scritchfield and Zietse’s childhood playgrounds. “‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ is an incredibly playful and adventurous story and so in designing the set I wanted to make something that is fun to navigate and that naturally encourages a lot of movement,” he said. The process then progressed to discussions of themes and concept sketches before moving on to more detailed drawings, a 3D model and eventually the construction of the set. 

Zietse described the tree as both his favorite part of the set and the most challenging part. “Organic elements are uniquely challenging to create onstage, but I find them to be incredibly fun to tackle,” he said. 

The set incorporates aspects from both the sub-level plot and the main plot. “On the most basic level, the set for this show is a literal playground in a backyard,” Zietse said. “Incorporated into this are many of the trappings of the prequel story — such as the ship elements — in ways that the characters can play with to create the story world that they are operating in.” Zietse noted that the separation between the two plots is indicated using lighting. “Throughout the show, you can see times when the lighting is consistent with a sunny day at a playground and others where the lighting suggests a more exotic or dramatic locale,” he said. 

For the finishing touches on the set, Zietse said that the actors had the opportunity to leave their mark. “After our final dress rehearsal, we gathered up the team and had them each put a colorful handprint on the hull of the ship. It was a bit like our own little ship christening ceremony to send the production onwards into performances,” Zietse said. 

The process

Altman explained that the production focuses on imagination and play, and this was reflected in their preparation for the show. “We are focusing a lot more on it being fun, … [on] it feels like we are all kids, and that’s why we’re here, and it’s not a whole bunch of stressed-out college students pretending to be other people. It’s little kids just running around, enjoying summer, enjoying that freedom and enjoying being able to create and play,” she said. “Our very first rehearsal, we went in, and we spent the majority of it playing tag, playing hide and seek, Duck, Duck, Goose — different childhood games to just have fun and create a connection between all of us.”

Anna Smith, a sophomore English major playing the role of Lord Astor, also emphasized how much the preparation was play-focused. “It’s almost like we get to just play on a playground and be like little kids for three hours, which is really wonderful,” she said. “Our rehearsals have been very focused on the childhood fun of the show and the whimsy that comes with, you know, being a kid on a playground at recess.”

Smith noted that with the meta-level plot and main plot combined, the portrayal of characters could get complicated. “We had a couple days of rehearsal where we were kind of fleshing out our characters in the ‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ story, and then fleshing out the children that we were also playing on stage. So it’s almost like we’re trying to balance two different characters that we’re playing, which is really interesting,” she said.

The themes

When asked about how “Peter and the Starcatcher” compares to past CTC shows, Smith noted that it is much more lighthearted, specifically in contrast to CTC’s “Birthday Candles” production. “It is wildly different from ‘Birthday Candles’ because ‘Birthday Candles’ very much focused on a lot of heavy, intense themes of grief and family struggles. And ‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ [is] definitely a much more lighthearted show. It does touch on some heavier themes, but it, on the whole, is much more lighthearted and funny than ‘Birthday Candles’ was,” she said.

Altman echoed this sentiment, noting that “[‘Birthday Candles’] is so genuine and real and touching, but so devastating at the same time, and I feel like [for ‘Peter and the Starcatcher’], you get those connections, … the ending does pull at my heartstrings … [but] in the end, we’re left with hope.” 

Scritchfield noted that along with being a magical adventure story, “Peter and the Starcatcher” “is a story about transitions.” He said, “We all have to move from childhood to adulthood with all of the responsibilities that entails, but it also represents a rebellion against that idea and reclaiming lost childhood. There is so much chaotic energy in ‘[Peter and the] Starcatcher;’ I would hate for the audience to walk away without realizing it’s never too late to return to a simpler time.”

Watching the show

Smith asks readers to “Come see ‘Peter and the Starcatcher!’ We would love to have so many people there. The show is also very dependent on an audience being there. An audience is energy for us to feed off of and for us to respond to. So audience engagement, people coming to see the show, it really does mean a lot, and it really does affect the actors on stage.”

Altman noted that during the performance, there will be chances for audience participation. “Please participate,” she said. “Please join us, and get involved in the show, and try to have as much fun as an audience member as we’re going to be having on stage.”

The CTC will be performing “Peter and the Starcatcher” again on Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m., and on Feb. 14 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in the Gezon Auditorium.