The children are all played by adults and have to face some very grown up emotions in a thought provoking production at The Blank’s 2nd Stage Theatre in Hollywood.
Peter Pan, an impressive Daniel Shawn Miller, is so hurt by his own abandonment as a child that he carries a seething resentment towards all mothers – and we learn he has kidnapped the lost boys from parents he feels didn’t deserve them.
In a clever theatrical device that perfectly suits the story’s psychological overtones, evil Captain Hook is played by the same actress who also portrays the mother of the latest children he has spirited away to Neverland, Wendy and John Darling.
Wendy, played beautifully by one to watch Liza Burns, goes from wide eyed wonderment to mounting realization that things aren’t going to pan out perfectly with Peter. Ruth Connell brings great movemement, menace and heartbreak to her dual role as Mrs Darling and Captain Hook.
The gritty set design and shadowy lighting all complement Michael Matthews atmospheric directing of a play by Michael Lluberes that suggests Neverland is not a place you’d necessarily like to visit but is certainly a destination you’ll never forget.
To paraphrase JM Barrie, take the second star on the left and straight on til morning to see this play and you’ll have an awfully big adventure.
Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers is performed Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through June 2nd at the Blank’s 2nd Stage Theater, 6500 Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood. For Tickets go to www.TheBlank.com or call (323) 661-9827.

"Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers" Wendy (Liza Burns) beguiles John (Benjamin Campbell, second from left) and the Lost Boys (from left, Amy Lawhorn, David Hemphill and Jackson Evans) with stories in "Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers." (Mary Ann Williams)