“Peter and the Starcatcher” was put on by the Steinbrenner Theater Department from Nov. 16 through Nov. 18. This show was unlike a lot of other plays the Steinbrenner Theater Department has put on in the past in a very positive way.
It was full of incredible props and beautiful set design. They really experimented with creativity such as using a sea of strung together water bottles to emulate the ocean, and using the ensemble to represent walls, and shiny leggings with patterns to represent mermaid tails. The astounding amount of imagination that went into building the show really blew the audience away.
This production, unlike others, is very ensemble based, meaning the entirety of the cast is on stage acting throughout the whole play. Who non-thespians consider “extras”, were vital in the show in a very noticeable way. This means that the set was left with a very minimalist design, which was a bold move for theater as a whole.
“There really isn’t a moment in the show where anyone is back stage twiddling their thumbs. Everyone is part of every moment of the story telling, which I think is really special about this play and I wish there were more scripts like it,” said theater director Lindsay Warfield.
Something very new and empowering is that for “Peter and the Starcatcher” there was an all female tech and pit crew. This means that all the behind the stage work and music was done entirely by women in the Steinbrenner theater department. Although not intentional, it was a great source of empowerment to women in theater. It was also used as almost a marketing tactic via social media. Overall, theater is very male dominated and this was a first for Steinbrenner theater and unexpected from the professional theater world.
Warfield decided to take this show to the One Acts competition on Dec. 7. For the purposes of keeping to the rules of the competition, the show has been shortened to 40 minutes in length and some of the props (such as the curtain of water bottles) have been removed. Warfield is certain that the Steinbrenner troupe will make it to states, as they have for the past eight years, undefeated.
Something very different about this play compared to others is that this is what is considered, “creative story-telling theater.”
“It’s what we call story theater. Most of my One Acts that I do are in that genre. It’s the way that I prefer telling a story, you know, I’d say creative story-telling,” said Warfield.
Something incredibly different about this production was the amount of underclassmen who had roles, and especially, leads. There were two freshmen leads with Emily Stephens as Molly Aster and Jaden Waz as Black Stache. A lot of other students who aren’t freshmen are new to the theater department as a whole.
“It was honestly really incredible because, I was really shocked and really honored to have the role from just being a freshman, but I was really grateful that the director didn’t cast based off of grade; She casted based off of skill level. I really appreciate that because I feel like it created the best show possible,” said Stephens.
“Peter and the Starcatcher” was overall great and very unique show to the Steinbrenner Theater Department.
Doreen Coreen // Co-A&E Editor
