The Wrocław Theatre for Children’s production “Peter Pan and the Pirates” was staged with great flair and inventiveness. Forum Hall was transformed into Neverland through the set design by Zbigniew Roszkowski and the idea of director Wiktor Wiktorczyk, who devised marionettes flying above the audience’s heads. When Tinker Bell flew out of the darkness from the back of the audience, the children held their breath, then almost all of them raised their hands in delight, trying to catch the fairy.
The fun with theatre that began this way unfolded at a dizzying pace, sweeping the children into Peter Pan’s enchanted land. They could fly there, on their own and with the help of balloons; there were mermaids and an extraordinary Never-bird, which came to the rescue at the most dangerous moments and, to the adults’ delight, sang a song to the rhythm of the Blues Brothers’ well-known hit “Everybody Needs Somebody”.
There were also foolish pirates, their leader Captain Hook, and a crocodile chasing him. At first, the children were afraid of the crocodile because the animal roared terrifyingly, but when Captain Hook defeated Peter in a duel and Peter had to be rescued, they all demanded the crocodile, from whom Hook always fled in terror.
After the performance, the two actresses who played Wendy and Michael led mini-workshops for the children. They answered the young viewers’ questions about the performance, the roles they played, and the techniques and puppets used in “Peter Pan and the Pirates”. The actresses also asked the children questions. Among other things, they asked what an actor’s outfit is called. They received two answers: the first was “body”, and the second was “ninja”. The amused actresses corrected the children and explained what a costume is, then showed them Peter Pan’s sword and the wooden, authentic pistols carried on stage by the pirates.
The performance at Forum cinema was the main attraction of the St Nicholas Day celebrations at BOK-MCC. On that day, Santa Claus and Snowflake were waiting for the children, art workshops were held, a puppet show took place in the conference room, and in the morning the children watched the 3D film “Niko 2 – Little Brother, Big Trouble”.
(information: Grażyna Hanaf)