PETER PAN
Where: Royal Theatre, 805 Broughton St., Victoria
When: Thursday, May 4 and Friday, May 5, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $16-$95.50 from the Royal McPherson box office (250-386-6121) or
Adapt or die. That’s how Brad Pitt’s general manager character in the movie Moneyball explained his novel approach to the world of professional baseball.
The performing arts requires a similar approach. And it’s one that Ballet Victoria’s Paul Destrooper took to heart when staging his company’s upcoming production of Peter Pan.
Destrooper revamped every aspect of the J.M. Barrie novel, and imbued the stage production with a contemporary twist. He used music from sources such as Hans Zimmer, and computer-generated imagery projected on backdrops replaces two-dimensional props on occasion.
“You can really do some crazy stuff [with computer imagery],” he said. “When the pirate ship arrives, instead of kind of sailing in, it comes movie-style from underwater. That means we can have more dancing and interesting things to look at, not just pretty sets.”
Peter Pan occupies a special place in Ballet Victoria history. It was the company’s first-ever production, in 2002, and its follow-up in 2007 was Destrooper’s first at the helm after joining the company as artistic director. Nontheless, Destrooper felt the story needed updating.
Ballet Victoria last revisited Peter Pan in 2016, when discussions around reparation were not what they are today. The story about a boy who can fly and the inhabitants of the island of Neverland described some characters in the book insensitively, so Destrooper re-constructed the ballet to be more inclusive.
“As we evolve as a society, things people at one time thought were appropriate are completely inappropriate today. It’s a matter of bringing a story with some unfortunate connotations and giving it new life in a way that respects and empowers everyone.”
When handled effectively, the ballet about a world inhabited by mermaids, fairies, and pirates never loses its enduring appeal. The main characters (Peter Pan, Wendy, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook) are iconic, and speak to the inner child in everyone, Destrooper said.
A cast of 14 dancers from Ballet Victoria will be joined by a dozen local children who have been added to the production as pirates. Peter Pan always draws a strong response from audiences, Destrooper said, for obvious reasons.
“People respond to it because it’s about the time in everyone’s life where you have to decide: Am I going to grow up, like Wendy does, or am I going to remain playful? That attracts people.”
