Wendy and Peter Pan explores the power of love — and grief

iPhoto caption: Wendy and Peter Pan production still by David Hou.

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/By Amira Benjamin / Aug 30, 2024

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Thirsting for some magic and adventure? Look no further — Ella Hickson’s Wendy and Peter Pan has landed at the Avon Theatre for its North American debut.

Although many are more familiar with the story of the boy who never grew up, his merry band of Lost Boys, and the evil Captain Hook, Wendy and Peter Pan follows the emotional growth of the riveting Wendy Darling, played by Cynthia Jimenez-Hicks, throughout her journey in Neverland.

Despite being a protagonist in J.M. Barrie’s classic Peter Pan, 13-year old Wendy has often been imagined in stage adaptations as a mother figure, or puppy love interest for Peter, never truly present in her own right.

Now, the eldest Darling child shares the spotlight with grief. 

At the start of Wendy and Peter Pan, the Darling family is grappling with the passing of a fourth child, Tom. When Peter Pan whizzes through the Darling children’s bedroom window and invites them to Neverland, Wendy decides to search for Tom in this magical place, amid sword fights, flying, and a peculiar Captain Hook (played in Wendy and Peter Pan by Laura Condlln).

Part of what gets me through the very emotionally tumultuous ending of the story is remembering that Wendy has to live for the family members who are still there. I just think that that’s such a beautiful part of this adaptation.

Cynthia Jimenez-Hicks

The Stratford production of Wendy and Peter Pan was originally supposed to take place in 2020 — its rehearsal period shut down just weeks after it began due to COVID-19. Jimenez-Hicks confesses that Wendy was a dream role for her, and as a young freelance artist, she was unsure if the production would ever be brought back — with or without her.

“I think I’ve learned [since then] that getting any art presented is a miracle,” she reflected. “I’ve been saying that part of my fear with ‘losing the show’ was that I would outgrow the role.” 

Jimenez-Hicks praised the leadership of director Thomas Morgan Jones for “leading with kindness,” and not shying away from difficult conversations, especially considering the problematic context of some of the source material, which includes racist depictions of Indigenous characters as well as gender stereotypes. 

“He honoured both [Tara Sky as Tiger Lily] in what their needs were around this production, while also including the entire company of the entire cast in those conversations and saying, ‘let’s not pretend this isn’t the history that it is, especially when we’re doing this story in Canada’,” said Jimenez-Hicks.

When she read the script for Wendy and Peter Pan, Jimenez-Hicks knew Wendy was the role for her. That said, she admits that she wasn’t always the character’s biggest fan. Although familiar with the 1953 Disney animated film and a few previous theatrical productions of Peter Pan, she wasn’t particularly intrigued by Wendy, “because I didn’t think she had a story that I was interested in.” 

Things changed when Jimenez-Hicks read Hickson’s script. “The journey that happens for Wendy, parallel to the grief journey, is [questioning] assumed gender roles and why [society] is this way,” Jimenez-Hicks continued. “And to give Wendy an opportunity to question those things, [and] especially to give little girls in the audience an opportunity to question those things.”

Grief is something we all experience, but perhaps the hardest part of experiencing loss is that you can never truly prepare for it, regardless of your age. Jimenez-Hicks understands that for 12-year-old Wendy, healing through her grief also means letting go of the mother role she adopted within her family — a familiar experience for eldest daughters and sons alike.   

”Another part of the role that really resonated with me was this whole assumption of the mother figure, because if you talk to any of my friends in my social life, I am the mom of every group,” she admitted, laughing. “When I first read this script and saw the scenes where finally we’re calling out this assumption of why a girl like Wendy has to play mother, a part of me went, ‘Oh!’”

For Jimenez-Hicks to prepare for the role of Wendy, she researched how young people experience and process grief through books and podcasts, such as All There Is with Anderson Cooper and On Grief and Grieving by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and David Kessler.

I think about how when I was a kid, the first person to expose me to theatre and plant the theatre bug in me was my grandma… I think the activity of a grandparent taking grandkids to the theatre is such a privilege. What a beautiful thing to be able to do with your family.

Cynthia Jimenez-Hicks

”I really resonated with this one line that happens when Peter is trying to help Wendy find her happy thought,” Jimenez-Hicks explains. “Wendy says, ‘I feel like I’ve been sad for such a long time and I can’t seem to [. . .],’ implying that she can’t seem to find a happy thought. There’s something about that writing that just so accurately reflects what the experience of having depression is like.

“When I got the audition, I was in a really, really rough mental health place, and I remember reading that line, and it just got me right in my gut,” she continued. “Not only did I feel like those words were so true to me, but it also occurred to me how special it was just to share that as a 13-year-old girl’s experience. Especially in a show meant for young people to be able to talk about sadness and depression without actually ever having to really say the word depression.”

But Jimenez-Hicks says it’s important for Wendy — and ourselves — to remember that although we’ve all lost somebody we loved, there are still people who care and love for you, and healing means continuing to love. 

“Part of what gets me through the very emotionally tumultuous ending of the story is remembering that Wendy has to live for the family members who are still there,” she said. “I just think that that’s such a beautiful part of this adaptation.”

Jimenez-Hicks understands the vulnerability and pride that comes with the role of a grieving but adventurous young girl, who can stand up to threatening pirates and also deeply care for her friends, not just for herself but for the young audiences she performs for.

“Lately after the matinees, we’ve been doing a little mini Wendy meet-and-greets in the lobby after the show. And so I run to the lobby, sometimes with a cast member, and do photos with a lot of the kiddos after the show. Most of the families I see are often grandparents bringing their grandchildren.

“I think about how when I was a kid, the first person to expose me to theatre and plant the theatre bug in me was my grandma… I think the activity of a grandparent taking grandkids to the theatre is such a privilege. What a beautiful thing to be able to do with your family.”

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Wendy and Peter Pan runs at the Avon Theatre until October 27. Tickets are available here.

WRITTEN BY

Amira Benjamin

Amira Benjamin is an undergraduate student at the University of Ottawa in sociology and anthropology. She is interested in all forms of journalism, especially arts and community reporting. You can find them critically analyzing Marvel movies or filling up a Pokedex. They are a member of the 2023 cohort of the IBPOC Critics Lab, supported by Intermission Magazine and the Stratford Festival.

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