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‘Welcome, Welcome, Welcome!’
IN MAGICAL STAGING, PLAYERS & AUDIENCE JOYFULLY REUNITE
Baker Theater threw open its doors for the first time in far, far too much time in early March, once again inviting an audience of hundreds to join together in imagination, this time for a beautiful and spare production of the modern, magical, and joyful wonder that is Peter and the Starcatcher.
BY KATHERINE OGDEN
For more photos, visit
bwick.org/tob_spring2022
The occasion was a “collective dream,” for sure! “I rarely address an audience before a show, but I felt it was important to mark this moment in Brunswick history,” exclaimed theater teacher Seth Potter, reflecting on his opening night exuberance. “Not only was I speaking to the audience, but to the entire cast and crew. The actors who have not fed from the joy of an audience needed a moment to recognize the reciprocal collaboration of actor and audience. “The collective dream that is theater only works when this connection is made,” he said.
Wells Faulstich ’22 and Hope Armstrong ’22 ABOVE Cash Lahey ’24 FACING PAGE Mason Zea ’23
Devoid of an audience since the beginning of the pandemic, the theater was once again filled with parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and families with young children — as well as students and faculty from all divisions of the school — for the thrilling, captivating production that filled in the backstory for one of drama’s most famous boys in forever, Peter Pan.
The Tony Award-winning play by Rick Elice is based on the 2004 novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson; the story serves as a prequel to J. M. Barrie’s seminal Peter Pan: Peter and Wendy, published in 1906. ’Wick thespians staged the production during a weekend’s worth of evening and matinee shows from March 3–5 — but it may have been a dress rehearsal that fully illustrated the magnitude of the milestone; the impact that a simple and ancient kind of gathering can have on both audience and performer.
Charlie Sfreddo ’22 Tyler Wilson ’22 and Sam Hall ’22
MK Blum ’23 and the ensemble
It was during a dress rehearsal that a third grader left her seat in the audience, laid her head at the edge of the stage, and watched the creation of Tinkerbell. The little girl was so swept away in the story, the boundary between audience and performers disappeared.
“She was completely immersed in the beauty of this simple and important story,” Potter exclaimed. “The true ‘star stuff’ is the connection between the actor and the audience!
“Peter is a play that demands a live audience,” he said. “The laughter of the audience fuels the actors, and the applause is what literally keeps the magic of the show alive. Tinkerbell survives Captain Hook’s poison because of the audience’s clapping. We clap because we believe in the magic of the story!”
STAGING STARCATCHER has been an aspiration for Potter since he saw it 10 years ago with his senior English class. Now, two years into a worldwide conflagration that is the pandemic, the origin story of Peter Pan seemed the perfect way to reopen Baker Theater.
As it has been for millennia, storytelling remains a powerful medium to uplift and inspire — as well as discourage, distract, and terrify. For the young orphans of Starcatcher, stories are something they know only partially; the waifs from St. Norbert’s Orphanage for Lost Boys know a lot about nightmares, but almost
Wells Faulstich ’22
Hope Armstrong ’22, Johnny Riehl ’23, and Tony Zhu ’25
nothing about the soothing, calming balm of bedtime stories.
The orphan boy who becomes Peter does not even have a name at the play’s beginning ― and he has never seen the sky. These are boys who have never had a bed, let alone a bedtime story, as young orphan Ted so clearly explains to Molly Aster, the 13-year-old daughter of Lord Leonard Aster, who entrances her peers with a recitation of Sleeping Beauty.
“It’s hard to have a bedtime story when you don’t have a bed,” Ted tells Molly, to which she responds: “It’s a gift. It’s the least I can do.”
Potter said he chose this play with intention, for this moment.
“I chose this piece because at its heart it is about finding a path of integrity and joy through tumultuous times,” he said. “It is about embracing what it is to be a boy, as well as the responsibilities demanded to be a good leader. It is about the importance of stories and how imagination and love can bring us to new heights.
“The stories are back, and the power of the stories being told from Baker stage will invigorate audiences and challenge actors and technicians to rise and take flight,” he said. “We have been without live stories and music for two years, and to be able to have the ability to share after two years feels like life coming back to the stage.”
Henry Roth ’25 and Jamie Restieri ’22
PROVERBIAL PIRATE ATTACKS
HERE WAS A PRODUCTION in which “pirates” figured greatly, both in the action of the play but most especially in the staging of it — ’Wick thespians spent months pulling it all together, figuratively speaking, with their hands tied behind their backs by COVID-19 restrictions.
As it always has been, the goal was to strive for the best and plan for the worst — but with no visiting musicians and limits on the “cast of thousands” extravaganza approach one usually associates with a ’Wick musical, the task was considerable. As rehearsals progressed, COVID-19 protocols then in place called not just for masks, but for substantial distance between singers, in particular.
“We created this piece for a live audience, knowing there was a good chance it would only be seen through the screen,” said Potter, adding: “Nothing like a pandemic to make you appreciate the simplicity and importance of a small stage kiss! We had to learn how to be a company once again, and feed and react off of one another,” he said. “Camaraderie is at the heart of these productions. We had to relearn how to connect, and generate the focus and energy required to mount a large production.”
It was the last-minute removal of masks two days before opening that proved most consequential in the production of Starcatcher; the simple act of a full and honest interaction between cast members, unobstructed by a facial covering, being the gift that brought the show to its soaring heights.
“We were only able to see fellow actors’ faces two days before opening night!” Potter exclaimed. “Imagine how much the show grew once actors were able to react to the facial expressions of one another!”
IT’S AN ICONIC LINE that brings Tinkerbell back to life, and it was not lost on the Brunswick community in Baker Theater, who responded
The cast took one final bow before the sold-out crowd at Baker Theater.
with gusto at Pirate Stache’s final request, cheering on the magic of a tiny fairy in the same way it cheers on the magic made by Brunswick boys as they make their way in their own adventures. Potter explained it this way:
“The audience of Baker Theater responded to Stache because we know the importance of being present for the moments of excellence in our boys’ lives,” he said. “In response to this important request, applause filled Baker Theater.
“We are once again able to be there for the moments when our boys shine on the fields, courts, pools, and stages. We don’t just witness their excellence; it becomes part of our own. The stomping in the stands at Dann Gymnasium, the pounding on the glass of Hartong Rink, the clapping in the seats of Baker Theater are all clear signs we believe in the power and importance of being together, of recognizing excellence and potential in one another.
“We know the importance of being present for the moments of excellence in our boys’ lives.”
Potter again addressed the audience for the final performance. I’ve loved this story, I’ve loved Peter Pan, ever since I could listen to stories,” he told the crowd. “It’s about growing up. It’s about embracing what it is to be a child. It’s about juggling the responsibilities that come our way. But most of all it’s about joy. And believe me, these students have a lot of joy to serve you, but they feed from your joy, so feel free to, of course, laugh and clap, but most importantly, be transported to Neverland.”
‘TO HAVE FAITH IS TO HAVE WINGS’
IN THE PLAY, THIS LINE IS A REVELATION, the true “star stuff’’ that allows Peter to take flight. It is a lesson he learns from a tumultuous time; through a challenging lesson, he is able to take flight and take the steps to being what he has always wanted to be.
So too, the reopening of Baker Theater is a needed reminder that bad times don’t last forever, that the lessons of a shared experience are never that far out of reach, and that transformation begins with belief, not just in oneself but in the people alongside us.
Said Potter: “To believe in oneself, and in one another, is how we fly.”
