Overview
Captain James Hook (née Cook), badly maligned by a certain play and despised by generations of Peter Pan fans, finally gets to clear his name. The good Captain, with the aid of his friend Smee, tells his life-story in this family-friendly play, recounting his friendship with and ultimate betrayal by Peter Pan, his romance with Tiger Lily, his familial relationship with the Darling family, and his adoption of a lovable crocodile named Daisy. In narrating his tale, he uncovers the hidden treasure of Neverland, discovers the identity of his long-lost father, and learns the importance of growing up and growing old.
Casting & Production
Casting
CAST: 2 M
JAMES HOOK (née Cook), by reputation a pirate
SMEE, Hook’s right-hand (literally) man, who sports at least one very bad (misspelled?) tattoo
Time and Place:
Duke of York Theatre, London, approximately 1938—and many other places far, far away….
Production Notes
The Set:
The wooden deck of a ship. There is a staircase or ship’s ladder descending from the poop deck, at least one mast (behind which a tiny Cotswold cottage, and various other props may be stored), ropey rigging, barrels below filled with skeletons and wooden bats and buckets above filled with water, a board forming a make-shift table holding various props as needed, a wind-machine, thunder-sheet, and whatever items necessary for certain sound effects (Smee produces these, when appropriate), a big old-fashioned lighting board with several large levers (Smee controls the lights too, though of course he doesn’t really) and a place of concealment where Smee can don whatever costumes he needs. In working the lights or producing sound, Smee is often (especially as the play progresses) shrouded in darkness.
Reviews
“Rollicking… [Hook’s Tale] satisfyingly upends all the familiar elements of Barrie’s children’s story. A splendid yarn.”
—Publishers Weekly
“…the myths of Neverland are expertly woven together with a coming-of-age story. Wildly imagined, with Easter eggs for Peter Pan fans along the way, Hook’s Tale…was highly entertaining and well-told…”
—San Francisco Book Review (5 stars)
“…a deliciously complex story of Dickensian dimensions…”
—Hudson Valley Magazine
