When I thought about the idea of putting on a production in Mountbellew woods, I tried to think of a story that would give the local people a challenge, and also be just as interesting for a audience as well. The one story that came clearly to mind that might work was Peter Pan. It speaks to the smallest of children with all its magic and fantasy. Older children can also relate to characters who are their own age will enjoy the Peter and Wendy relationship in a different way as teenagers finding themselves in life.

The adults remember the magic of the first time they saw it when they were kids! fathers still wishing they could be a pirates. In theatre, the rule is to never grow up enough to forget how to play and be able to fly away to Neverland.

I then realised the venue its self would add so much to this already beautiful story, the setting in what is almost a natural amphitheatre, would be the perfect canvas to build the three acting areas. The trees would not only give a complete boarder to the stage but could become also a part of the sets themselves. As the sun would set over Mountbellew the trees would slowly come to life with the magic of the lighting.

I have chosen Donncha Mac Donncha to be lighting designer as he and I have experienced the magic of an outside production of Peter Pan before, and he fully understands how through the lighting what an impact the natural setting can add to the production.

I have worked on various productions of Peter Pan both as actor and director but this time I have decided to research the original text in greater detail than before, I became interested with the details of how this story got it's start. James Barrie never had any children of his own, but he spent a lot of time playing with the children of two friends of his.  His friends were killed in the same year and he adopted their children, then five boys, as the girl in the family, Wendy, had died herself at a very early age.  In order to keep these boys happy and to create a new family unit, he wrote down and further developed characters that he and the boys had played together.  Barrie himself had always been Captain Hook when they played for hours in the Kensington Gardens as photographs reveal.  So I became even more attached to this story that had at its heart more reality than I had expected to find.  Scenes like the return from Neverland when Wendy asks her father if they can adopt the five lost boys she brings back from Neverland take on new meaning in the light of this discovery.

One great disappointment to me as I looked at the original texts for production was that they were anything but politically correct. They seemed very dated in their racist and sexist casting and characterization. Written at they beginning of the last century, it was plain to see how far we have actually developed in cultural matters since then. There is little one can do to revise a classic without the fear of destroying the story, so I began to think of how I could still do this play and not offend the audience with my changes! .

There are freedoms in design and directing choices that an outside production can give. So many more options than the restrictions of a small stage gives. Also in order to make it more accessible to a local audience, I thought I would set it in Ireland, as Georgian Dublin is just a good a match as Kensington. Without English accents this also would be one less worry for my young cast.

I also thought that a modern kid's view of Neverland might be to have the look of the Lost Boys to be a mixture of today’s casual kids clothing mixed with the wild rags of neverland, after all who says that time in neverland is set in one period. It is after all a kid’s world, no adults, no rules, just other kids and a lot of magic and imagination.

I will hope to attempt to cast in a more multicultural way to better reflect Irelands changing environment as best as I can from the local children and adults of east Galway. I will cast some roles differently than they were originally written with regards to gender as well. Myself being involved in past productions I see it is now so important to cast a boy as Peter, as these days I feel that the pantomime style principle boy "Peter" played by a girl just does not come across as real today, and certainly when the role of Peter being a boy is so integral to the storyline.

In costume and characterization choices I want to play on the strength of Irish culture and its story telling traditions, this will also be true in the use of any music used in the production. These changes I feel will bring Peter Pan into the 21st century without changing the integrity of the story line in any way. Most radical I suppose is my vision for the flying in this production.

This production being performed outside would make any traditional flying of Peter and the Darling children almost impossible, and I have worked on productions where this has also been the case so a flying ballet of sorts has been devised. The ballet has always made me feel that we are letting one of the most crucial sequences of the play down; I know that Peter Pan relies on us to use our imagination but I have always felt that this is a stumbling block. So having worked with many different mediums in my career I know how video can add a great deal to a theatre productions set design.

My hope is to combine the use of pre-recorded video of the children flying through cloud projected on a screen at the rear of centre stage mixed with dry ice flowing across the main stage area,

This carefully combined should finally correct this weakness and appease any modern day Childs scepticism. The screen and video projection would also be used for narration at the beginning and for a sequence on the pirate ship, the cost of this equipment far out ways the thought of trying traditional flying.

So finally, my hope is for a production of Peter Pan that you as an audience, sponsor, or parent will recognize the classic tale but with that little something more.  The story, the thrill of the flying, the special relationships of the kids and their desire to never grow up are still intact, but it will have a new look and a new feel in parts.  I hope that the sets outside in the woods will bring just enough of a canvas to spur kids to imagine their own vision of Neverland and the Pirate ship. My hopes are as director that this production in Mountbellew woods, will bring this classic to life, in a way that all can truly enjoy. 

This production can really involve so many from the local community, bringing the whole of east Galway together, be it cast or production crew, they will be working for one aim, for just a few nights the magic of Barrie’s classic will come to life for the young and old people of east Galway.  I hope with the support from many areas, The County Council, Coilte, Arts funding ect that this

Magical dream might just become a reality.

Thank you

Robert Craig-Morgan