The Charter School’s production of Peter Pan and the Quest to Save Neverland, showing June 16–18 at the Grange Hall, has been chosen to join a select group of American high school productions that will travel overseas next year to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
The production uses a script, rewritten by Charter School drama teacher Heather Capece and her daughter Nicola, that hopes to update and reinvent the Peter Pan story for the 21st century.
The classic tale enters the public domain this upcoming January and it’s high time, according to Ms. Capece, to revamp J. M. Barry’s play.
“It’s a great story. It’s a fabulous story. But there are things in it that are not great right now, you know, in the world that we live in,” Ms. Capece told the Gazette. The new script changes the “lost boys” to “lost souls,” and leaves behind the original play’s use of Native American tropes.
The 10 or 12 students who travel abroad will receive college credits, travel to shows throughout Edinburgh and London, and mingle with other high schoolers also performing at the Fringe.
For the Charter School students “it’s just an incredible opportunity,” Ms. Capece said.
But bringing the play to Scotland next year will not be easy, she added. A fundraising effort kicks off this weekend with ticket sales, merchandise sales, and donations.
Shows are at 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday evening, with a 2 p.m. matinee and 6 p.m. evening show Saturday.
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