Peter Pan-Week 8: Shape Games and Scene Work

It dawned on us this week that we're over halfway through the term. How did that happen? People say "time flies when you're having fun," so I guess they are right. Anyway, here we are at week eight of Peter Pan. This week there was some physical stuff and we worked on some more scenes. More costume had arrived so there was some more of that too; such as our amazing crocodile costume.

We started the group off with some physical exercises to get them ready to rehearse the physical theatre sequences we have in the play. The group have taken a liking to the running game, so we played that first and followed up with some good old fashioned shape games.

Some abstract shapes this week; including creating a ticking clock and a blinking pair of eyes. The group had to get creative but at this point are quite experienced at finding creative ways to tackle what we ask them to do. The eyes were a particular highlight as they functioned well and could wink, blink and look around in different directions.

We then split up. One team went away and worked on another of Captain Hook and Mr Smee's scenes while one team practiced the mermaid dance sequence. The girls put in a lot of effort when we practice this sequence and every week it looks better and better! We keep having new ideas about what the mermaids might do with Wendy and build them into the scene.

We then practiced the Lost Boy's jungle adventure. Like the mermaid sequence, the adventure sequence has developed more and more each time we practice it. The chameleons are never short of ideas and always come up with something new in each rehearsal. The ensemble are all putting in a huge amount of effort to make these scenes as brilliant as they can be and it is wonderful to watch them grow and change.

Next we moved onto a scene that we have been anticipating for a while. The Lost Boys meeting the village Chief. As our heroes go through the jungle they get lost and suddenly are captured by the villagers, who are searching for the lost Tiger Lily. Some fantastic improvised dialogue featured in this scene; the group has some very funny characters in it, which makes scenes like this so much fun!

Meanwhile, Captain Hook, reeling from an earlier defeat, comes across Tinkerbell, who has wandered off alone. He tricks her into believing that he is a friend, only to then betray her moments later. It's been fantastic watching the characters develop over the weeks and Captain Hook has become such a fantastically entertaining villain. Together with Mr Smee they are a brilliant double act; which is sad news for poor Tinkerbell. As a character who cannot speak, she is difficult to play, but our Tink has such a rich character; she is both funny and can make you feel sympathetic. So much wonderful characters. We are so lucky to have such a talented cast!

So that's another week wrapped up. We're moving into the final stages of the show now. Next week we will see Peter and Hook come face to face as the heroes work to rescue Tiger Lily. Plus we will be attempting our first run-through of the scenes so far! Exciting times ahead! As always here are some snaps from rehearsals.

Peter Pan- Week 7: Meeting the Lost Boys!

Our Chameleon group was back in full swing this morning after a lovely half term of rest and a Halloween's worth of sweets. Now that everyone had returned it was time to hit the ground running preparing for the show and getting some scenes finished off. The most exciting part of today, however, was the long awaited arrival of the Lost Boys. 

We kicked off by playing a round of the group's favourite catching game; which they now demand every week. We had a change of room this week; which meant less space for the group to zip around in. We may have adapted the rules of the game to suit the space but everyone was still up for it and we all had a good time (even Ben joined in).

After we had finished the game we recapped what we had done last week; talking back the adventure through the forest that everyone had been on. This week we focused on transforming that into a scene. With John in the lead, the group marched through the forest and had to overcome three different obstacles of their choosing; one was low branches and thistles, one was a river and one was hanging vines over a large canyon.

The chameleons had to work together to figure out how best to get past each obstacle and produced some lovely work. We talked about physical theatre and how we could show the actions without telling the audience what we are doing; which the group responded well too and really embraced the physical aspect to performing the scene.

Meanwhile, Peter, Wendy, Tinkerbell and Hook worked on some different scenes. We revisited the first encounter between Peter and Wendy and the first real meeting between Peter and Hook at Skull Rock (more on that in the coming weeks). It was great watching the group explore their characters as they brought them to life in the scenes.

Once the group came together again we worked on the first scene where the Darlings meet Peter and Peter catches his shadow. We played a game of catch between Peter and his shadow which then worked into the scene, as Peter dashes around the bedroom trying to catch it. Eventually Wendy wakes up and sets in motion the rest of the story. It was nice spending time working on this first meeting and seeing the friendship form between the characters.

Then we had cake to celebrate a birthday and moved onto the second half of the session. We had some costumes for this half as this week we've been busy acquiring lots of fun things for the show. Suited up, we met the Lost Boys. In our version there are three; Fox (the leader), Cub (the hot headed one) and Rabbit (the sleepy one). The relationship between the boys and the Darling children doesn't get off to a great start as they capture Wendy as soon as she sets foot in their den!

Tinkerbell tricks the boys into thinking Wendy is their enemy; which Peter is very cross about when he finds out. We got to see Pan's angry side as he banishes Tinkerbell for her actions. The Lost Boys apologise and then decide to head off on an adventure while Peter and Wendy visit Mermaid Lagoon.

Finally we practiced the mermaid sequence with Wendy this time (as opposed to the chair, which stood in last session). It was great watching the three mermaids interact with Wendy as she explores the lagoon and the girls all worked extremely hard to create some beautiful stage images during their dance. This scene is apparently everyone's new favourite.

So ends another week! The performance will be upon us soon and we've very excited to show everyone what we've been working on. The chameleons have all worked very hard this term and produced some lovely work! Next week we will possibly be looking at flying and at the rivalry between Peter and Hook. More fun and games ahead! See you there!