Unable to voice a single word, an Oilfields High School student will communicate solely through facial expressions and movement while on stage next week.
Amongst 26 rambunctious boys, surly pirates and snappy crocodiles, Morgan Burton must get the audience’s attention as the saucy, yet voiceless fairy Tinkerbell in the school’s upcoming production Peter Pan.
“Tinkerbell is a bit of a brat so I’ve got to display that I’m usually frustrated or if I’m really excited about something I jump around and ring my bell a lot,” she said. “I act like Tinkerbell does in the movies. I like the Disney cartoon, that was always my favourite.”
Burton delved into her role as the ill-tempered fairy with the help of her castmates.
“I’m just seeing how everybody else reacts to it and seeing if I can do something better,” she said. “It has some challenges, but for the most part it’s just me having fun on stage. There is a lot of chaos and silly things that happen.”
The role comes with its challenges, but Tinkerbell was Burton’s top choice.
“I’ve loved Peter Pan my whole life and I wanted to be Tinkerbell really bad,” she said. “I grew up loving her and I thought it would be a fun role to play. I get to just have fun and make a fool of myself a little bit.”
This is Burton’s first attempt at acting.
“The past two years the production our schools have put on have really interested me,” she said. “I didn’t think drama was my thing until now.”
Preparing for the role of Tinkerbell also meant getting used to being on stage in front of a large audience.
“That took some adapting, just being comfortable doing that in front of a lot of people,” she said. “I wouldn’t say I’m particularly shy, but I have a little bit of stage fright.”
John McDowell is in the opposite situation, having performed since junior high.
He was ready to take on the lead and landed the role of Peter Pan.
“I felt like I could do pretty well in this part,” he said. “I’ve been in theatre since Grade 7 so it’s just very humbling to know I got that part.”
Turning into Peter meant McDowell had to delve into his childish side. Peter Pan was one of his favourite movies growing up so he had a good idea of what the character was about.
“Peter Pan was one that I watched pretty often, the Disney version and Hook,” he said. “I loved the imagination part of how much thought has gone into it to have that big of an imagination to think of this place and all the adventures these kids have at such a young age.”
Director and drama teacher Sherry Schalm said Peter Pan was the club’s top choice.
“We wanted something that was light, magical and a little bit hopeful,” she said. “It’s a classic.”
What Schalm and her students didn’t expect was what Scottish novelist and playwright J.M. Barrie’s play would reveal.
“We thought we knew it really well, but when we actually started reading the scripts all of us looked at each other,” she said. “It didn’t make any sense.”
Schalm said there were elements in the play that weren’t familiar and they removed some scenes to reduce the confusion.
“We went through a novel study and figured out exactly what was happening and why it was happening and what was happening at that time in the world,” she said. “For instance, it wasn’t uncommon to have some First Nations from North America brought over to England and to have to walk around and put on a show in full regalia. It was a very bizarre thing.”
Schalm said the drama students voted to remove the scene that involved the First Nations people.
“It can be misconstrued,” she said. “If we’re acting it out it’s like we’re condoning it. The interesting thing is the play was rewritten and adapted in 2014. One would think there would have been modifications made.”
Schalm said the whole story behind Peter Pan is quite peculiar.
She learned that Barrie created the character based on his older brother who died in an ice-skating accident and his mother and brother thought of him as forever a boy.
Another interesting component to the story is that after the play hit stages several boys leapt off their beds, countertops and higher surfaces attempting to fly, said Schalm.
“Parents petitioned Barrie to put in something that would stop them from flying in real life,” she said, adding it resulted in the creation of Tinkerbell. “It’s quite intriguing when you look at what the real story is. Although they get to go off to Neverland, the underlying message is one of loss, isolation and abandonment.”
Peter Pan shows Dec. 1 to 4 at 10:30 a.m. and Dec. 3 and 4 at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $5 for adults and $2 for children and can be purchased at the door.
