Review: 'Peter And The Starcatcher' At St. Stephen's & St. Agnes

By Sydney Fisher of Washington Lee High School

It is often hard to face the realities of growing up, but in St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School's excellent production of "Peter and the Starcatcher," you don't have to. Filled with strong actors, constant energy, and magic, this show executed their production and technical elements with professionalism and elegance. "Peter and the Starcatcher" is based on the 2004 novel "Peter and the Starcatchers" by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. "Peter and the Starcatcher" provides the origin story to well known characters Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Mrs. Darling, and Tinkerbell. St. Stephen's and St. Agnes took this modernized story and did it justice.

The most important part of a cohesive show is a cast that demonstrates chemistry and stage presence. The dynamic performances of Bette Vajda as Peter and Julie Newman as Molly made for a compelling relationship and an enjoyable performance. Vajda played a convincing male character, and clearly showed Peter's evolution and growth throughout the show. Vajda used great body language in her performance to emphasize her character's emotions in specific scenes. When Peter was in moments of trouble, Vajda included a hand shaking detail which showed her comprehensive control of her body movement and attention to detail in each scene. Another notable performance was that of Mary Margaret Lehmkuhler, who played Black Stache. Lehmkuhler had an amazing balance between serious and comedic tones, which made for a smooth performance.

Campbell Weiss, who played Lord Leonard Aster, made a strong impression as Molly's father. He had a powerful stage presence and amazing on stage chemistry with Molly. Nick Griepentrog, who played both Bill Slank and Hawking Clam gave an impressive performance. He managed to drastically differentiate his two characters, which showed professionalism in his acting. Featured roles such as Alf (Jackson de Vallance) stood out and left the audience laughing with his physical humor. The ensemble members in this show never broke their energy and were constantly animated on stage, which made the overall production entertaining to watch. The blocking of the ensemble also created a nice imagery, and showed the clear difference between the two ships. Every character owned the stage, and the ensemble shined while not stealing attention from the lead actors. This show had a cast that worked together cohesively onstage and resulted in a wonderful show.

Along with a strong ensemble and supporting characters there were also incredibly strong technical aspects to this show that made it come to life. The ambient sounds in the background in multiple scenes transported the audience to Neverland. The mics were incredibly clear, which made for a smooth performance.

St. Stephen's and St. Agnes high school's production of "Peter and the Starcatcher" always kept the audience laughing. With strong actors, on stage chemistry, and comedic timing, that made for a memorable performance.

Image: from left to right: Fred Gehlhoff, Julie Newman, Bette Vajda, Andrew Seale, image by Jameson Bloom