I had no idea what to expect at the production of Peter Panties, as the lights went dark the play began and well was I shocked, perhaps I was as I sat in the front row wondering what was going to happen next. I remember Peter Pan from the cartoon that I used to watch as a kid, this production was like Peter Pan deconstructed, it was quirky, crazy and bizarre.
This was a Leaky Heaven Circus production, and their new play, Peter Panties was a “radical reimagining” of the Peter Pan story by Niall McNeil and Marcus Youssef, with music by Veda Hille along with many of Vancouver’s most innovative creator-performers.
Peter Panties was a ground-breaking examination of the creative process, an interrogation of what it means to grow up with difference, and a wildly imagined world where fairytales, myth, pop culture and everyday life intertwine. It is a world Niall has been imagining for many years, often with his many artist friends. It’s a dreamscape where Peter Pan and Macbeth drink lattes, the Lost Boys hang with Grissom and Willows from CSI, and Tinkerbell and Wendy duke it out.
The playwright Niall McNeil has Down Syndrome he has had a long association with Leaky Heaven Circus, this work that took over a year to put together was done so with Marcus Youssef. The plot references were quite unusual and the subject matter a little disturbing.
The production was performed at The Cultch!