Crucial element of ‘Peter Pan’ has to be taught
By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
"I’m flying!"
Student actors in this weekend’s high school production of the "Peter Pan" play got their first chance to soar last Saturday.
They said they found the body harnesses tight and pulling through the seat, but they were all smiles as Amir Tawfik, flying director for the Flying By Foy company, led them through their moves, step by step.
The school didn’t skimp on the flying sequences; they hired the company that created the effects for the original Broadway production with Mary Martin in the mid-1950s.
The adventure we all grew up comes to the Hillsborough High School stage this Friday and Saturday, Nov. 21 and 22. Performances are Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 1 and 7 p.m. All tickets are $15 and seating is reserved. Buy tickets at www.HHSTheatre.org or call 908-431-6600, ext. 2099.
"It’s out most ambitious fall play ever," said director B.J. Solomon.
Last Saturday, the three children in J.M. Barrie’s story joined with Peter Pan to experience the feeling of leaving the stage (no jumping! said Mr. Tawfik) and moving back and forth across the stage under the control of rope pullers behind the scenery.
"We’ll be stepping through key sequences and showing how to present themselves in the air while making it look realistic," Mr. Tawfik said.
Complete body harnesses, which are covered by costumes, will lift the actors. The design and look of the harnesses is a proprietary secret; no photographs were allowed at the rehearsal.
He said it was usual for youngsters to slouch initially in mid-air, and he reminded them against that repeatedly.
"We’re asking them to do something that is quite unnatural," he said. "They have to learn to keep their shoulders back and their legs moving."
The production’s Peter Pan is Clement Obropta, who has martial arts training in his background. He looked like a natural, with arms out and legs bent in a flying pose. The rigging gives him the most latitude to glide farthest across the stage.
When he auditioned, the way he jumped around the room, like he was flying, "it was perfect," said Mr. Solomon.
In fact, said Mr. Solomon, Clement fulfills J.M. Barrie’s insistence that a boy play the role of Peter.
The three children, by comparison, could "fly" in a smaller circle at the rear of the stage.
"Kids are easy," said Mr. Tawfik, who estimated he has trained students for productions at least 200 times. "The biggest problem is paying attention. They take the instruction pretty quickly."
Indeed, third grader Adrian Carley, the youngest of the Darling children in the play, as he was rigged up under his costume of pajamas, bounced on and off his stage mark until his turn to rise came. On one early lift, he exclaimed, "Party rockers!" — a line not in the script.
His first time up into the air, said Ryan Honwad, the 9th grader playing the bespectacled child John, it "felt like Superman."
His stage sister, Kiara Ryan, a 12th grader, said, "To be honest, it (the harness) hurt a little bit. But it’s always been everyone’s dream to fly."
As he moved step by step through important sequences and scenes, Mr. Tawfik reasserted his instruction. "Whatever you think is the right answer, don’t do it," he said. "Just listen to me."
Rigs are pulled by teams off stage. One puller lifts the actor, and another controls the back and forth movement. Mr. Tawfik constantly reminded the actors not to jump off the stage in anticipation, but to be lifted. Jumping adds force and initiates more of a swing, sacrificing control of the acting movements.
As Peter shows the children to fly, John (Ryan) exclaims, "You’re so nippy at it!"
When the pixie dust is scattered, the three children are "fly" simultaneously.
"How splendid!" exclaimed Kiara.
"How lovely," added Ryan.
Mr. Solomon watched on the instruction on stage and said at one point, "What he is teaching them now was in the original 1955 production," pulling up a Youtube video on his phone to prove the point.
Later in the day, Peter and Captain Hook practiced their sword fight, and Kiara had to learn how to soar away on an umbrella to escape Hook.
Mr. Solomon,
Peter, Wendy, John and Michael, who along with the Lost Boys, do battle with the sinister Captain Hook and his pirate crew.
Solomon directs this production as well as providing the scenic design. (At one point, the scene will dissolve unto itself as the flying takes center stage.) Hillsborough High School alumnus Kyle Kravette returns to the school as the lighting designer on this production.
There are other ties to the past, too, Mr. Solomon said. Kiara’s sister, Micelle, flew in the school’s production of "Seussical" in 2010, as did Ryan’s cousin, Nihal. Both are studying theater arts in college.
Others in the cast are Kevin Bizzoco as Captain Hook, Christina Buz as Mrs. Darling and Rory Baker as Smee.
Mr. Solomon readily admits that Peter Pan has always been one of his favorite stories. "Even in my mid-30s, when the nursery window swings open and Peter flies into the nursery I can’t help but feel like I am still five years old."
To prepare for the staging, he read 17 books on author J.M. Barrie or the stage production, he said.
People can ask the actors about flying and other details of the play when the theatre students become teachers for an acting clinic on Saturday morning. Students in grades 3 through 8 are encouraged to attend. For more info, call the box office.