Peter pan assessment

Practical skills, knowledge and understanding: 

 Peter Pan was such an interesting character to play, or at least he can be. When most people hear Peter Pan they think of him as the little silly kid in green tights, probably not the most fleshed perception of a character. He may be silly yes, however, this is the very surface of his character. Researching this character brought me so many more avenues to tweak his personality. There are so many ways to play his character even thought it is primarily a silly character, how you portray that is basically up to you.  He can be naughty, idiotic, cheeky, physical, quirky or crazy. For me I chose cheeky, I felt that this was the right way for me to play him as I believe he would be cheeky. My perception of him makes me believe this is how he should be presented.

We don't know how Peter Pan ended up in Neverland, we can only assume he ended up there the same way the lost boys do as he explains to Wendy.  However, he almost dissociates himself with them, maybe it's uncomfortable for him to talk about? Maybe he ended up there in a different way? (he does say he ran away from home when he heard his mother and father were talking about what he was to be when he is a man, I believe this is a complete lie, why would he be so annoyed at his parents replacing him if he made up his mind to run away from them?) We don't know how old Peter is as people seem to age very slowly if not at all in Neverland, but we definitely know he's been there for a long time, we know this because he regularly visits the real world and seems to navigate it well like he has been doing it since he came to Neverland. He also found his real parents visiting the real world where he was met with another boy who replaced him. So, Peter Pan is a boy still clinging onto his childhood after being neglected and sent to a different world.  A world which doesn't even allow you to grow up and in-between all of this he found out his true home had forgotten about him and replaced him, he is trapped really. This is why I believe he would be cheeky, he's a kid who feels he deserves some entitlement and attention, something which was obviously denied from him at one point in his childhood and now is the leader of his own group of lost boys who think very highly of him (at least most do) which adds even more entitlement to his ego, he is actually quite selfish but he's still just a kid. So what would a kid like this act like? He would be cheeky.    

How would I play this then? his body language, vocals, facial expressions and costume? well I need to make the audience believe I am younger than I am as well as making them believe I'm peter pan, we don't know how old he is but we are safe to assume he is in the age range of 10 to 12. Now as a 16 year old how am I meant to do this? the body language needs to be broad and bright same with vocals, although I actually didn't change much for my vocals, I did elevate my voice a bit higher at times but my voice isn't all that deep in the first place. My accent is fitting for the cheeky role already as I am "pit-yakka" or someone who speaks "pitmatic" which can be confused with Geordie so I can pull of the over confident jolly cheekiness well just using my accent however it becomes a problem with diction, I had to remember to drop the accent at certain points to speak clearly for the audience. My vocals mattered most when it came to my singing which I practiced for a lot with vocal warmups and training my voice. His facial expressions (same with body language) needed to be broad and bright. As a kid most feelings are expressed through the face and body language as to show there emotion, this means he has to be flamboyant with his face and not just to engage the audience but as a part of his character. Costume I had a big say in as us three peters wanted it to be just perfect for the character, we knew he would of chosen the best clothes for himself as he is the leader of the gang but we didn't want the copy and paste green tights peter pan, we wanted it more naturalistic. We choses green dungarees with a green jumper and a green makeshift bandana, quite a simple look but it speaks for itself, it manages to stand out without looking to mad and also the most stylish of the bunch as if he's taking notes from the real world.   

Engaging with an audience:

We had three different types of audience to engage with, primary school, adult and a relaxed audience. Each of them needs to be approached in a different manner. 

The easiest audience to engage with has to be the children’s audience, they are much more gullible and willing which makes it easier to make them believe you are Peter Pan. It’s expected to ramp up the performance make it extra profound and making sure to be silly and clear with jokes. They absolutely loved it and I learned there really is no limit to the audience’s imagination, they truly did believe I was Peter Pan so for next time why not ramp it up even more?

Now the relaxed audience was going to be a new experience, I had never engaged with a relaxed audience before. With an audience like this we really don’t know what to expect, so we do need to tone it down, we messed with light so it was less harsh. We toned down the music to make it more comfortable, we cleared rows of seats for people to walk about if they felt uncomfortable and even changed some character traits just in case. Now as my role as a lost boy I did not have to tone down to much as the lost boys are a jolly group and not threatening, what I did have to change is a scene where me and another lost boy go into the audience to “hype” everyone up to save tinker bell. We made sure to not cramp anyone or scare anyone, we also stayed vigilant to avoid anyone who didn’t like it. I learned from this audience to expect the unexpected.

The adult audience was amazing to work with to, people think it must be harder to engage an adult audience and they would be right. However, we are all technically big children, how doesn’t love a-bit of light hearted entertainment? If you put in that tiny bit of extra effort it is just as easy, usually an adult audience enjoys it more as they pick up on the jokes easier. Adults expect to be entertained and if you do just that it’s more rewarding than the primary school audience. I made sure to be more quick witted and if anything, even more silly. 

Evaluation:

My overall objective for Peter Pan was met, I knew what theme, what his chemistry would be like towards other characters and what his personality would be like to me. I made him a little cheeky chap he is because I believe that is who Peter Pan should be. I met my goals to improve concentration and It helped me play Peter Pan as a result, I was focused on what my character would do and not what would get the cheap laugh for the audience.

I effectively portrayed peter pans emotions because I understand his character, he is still a kid yes but I also played him very real still, I reacted well to him dealing with the near death of tinker bell and especially with his outburst when he reveals his parents neglect for him. I believe this real emotional approach really connected with the audience on an emotional level. After the show the head of film and tv, Kane smith said he was the most compelled to stand up at the end because I was the most convincing.

 Now my accent was perfect for this role, when I could speak clearly. Sometimes my diction was weak as my accent likes to completely miss out letters at sometimes, for example Peter pan can sounds like "Pe-a-er pan" when I'm not careful. Definitely something to look out for in the future. However the accent was perfect, a cocky cheeky scruffy silly pit yakker giving it all this and all that to a respectful mature, posh, young child (Wendy). It was a very convincing duality and it just worked for peter pan.

I utilised the space on the stage very well like Peter Pan really would, exploring and finding new places and being big. Using all the same only adds to my advantage with how I can grow the character in this space and in this space I made sure to not block anyone.

 we all had to have good dynamic in this play, its a very group focused play with gangs of pirates, lost boys and family which all require some sort of choreography. Everyone needs to be a team player in this situation. As a lost boy I had to be in a lot of group choreography where everyone has to feel each others energy such as falling asleep and waking up at the same time. we all had to listen and follow each others steps at some parts which requires a lot of focus and concentration.

 Props where integrated well and same with my costume, I really messed around with the props and environments given as it adds even more to the character and atmosphere. I tried to use the props as much as possible and use them to convincingly to make a believable environment, I experimented with the props to see what would work and how the character of peter pan would use them. for example there was a rocking chair on stage in the nursery that just seemed to be there, so I decided to play on it as peter pan while I took Wendy's jewellery box and rummaged through it. For the costume I picked out an appropriate costume that would look natural on him and not to daft. The costume even broke after it was worn by the other casts which gave it even more character.

 I took many creative choices for mostly his dialogue to better show off his personality to the audience. For example, a section in where Wendy is shot by an arrow peter has to ask a subdued Wendy what house she would like built but instead of just saying Wendy to get her attention I continuously repeated Wendy in a comedic fashion, that seamed to get a few laughs. same with some on the spot creative thinking for example, one of the lost boys was wearing the shirt I wore as the lost boy as it looked better than the shirt he previously wore. While he was standing beside me, in a scene with peter (me) explaining how we should all be nicely dressed for their first interaction with Wendy, I proceeded to tear the breast pocket of his shirt in hopes it would make him smarter. Just little tweaks like this helped my portrait his character better.

I will take some credit on how I was able to engage with the audience, I seemed to get quite the many laughs and I think I have pin pointed it down to the way I portrayed peter and how I pulled it off of it, I believe its just that people find amusement in my presence on stage with the swagger and confidence of it all. I believe I managed the emotional scenes really well, I know this because it was the only time throughout all the shows that the audience actually gasped and verbally shouting no when I was about to drink my medicine that hook had poisoned and then when tinker bell drank it instead. Believe it or not but it was actually the adult audience. I really do think going for peter pan was the right choice and I just think I did really well with it.

 I think at some points I let my energy drop, that's what I regret the most and need to improve on in future. I could of engaged the primary audience better I believe, I could of ramped it up a bit more. Same with vocals, I am definitely not a singer and its harder for me to let go when I am singing which makes my dynamics and movement a bit more stiff. I would of liked to do more on movement in the first place anyway because I wasn't the most physical of the peters.

I think what I really need to improve on now is my vocal range for singing and how I can improve on my acting skills while I sing. I would like to expand my range of movement and how to fully incorporate a characters true movements.

Feedback,

“ Noah was an incredible Peter Pan. His ability to transform into a happy go lucky boy that doesn’t ever want to grow up is mesmerising. I think his singing ability is also incredible, my only criticism of his performance is that he needs to gain his confidence with singing as he is a great singer he just seems like he’s too scared to let go and reach high notes. I believe our chemistry as Peter and Wendy was also beautiful, Noah has a striking ability to bond with whoever his character needs to. Overall I think Noah was a perfect casting for Peter Pan and I am thoroughly excited to see what he does next!” -Laura Lillystone (cast 2 Wendy)

“Noah did a an amazing job for Peter Pan. He really played off the cheeky ness of the character, with his acting and way of movement even down to the singing he did just a fab job and could not be more proud of him” - George Smedley (cast 1 hook)