With opening night of this year’s fall play quickly approaching, the Susquehannock Theater program takes on the popular story of a boy who refuses to grow up, Peter Pan and Wendy.

  Discovering this year’s fall play came as a shock to junior lead Alexis Anelli, casted as Wendy. “We usually do some famous old artist,” said Anelli. “So to do a play that everyone is familiar with we were really excited about.” Leads Ethan Paules, a junior playing the role of Peter Pan, and junior Allison Moltz, Wendy, agreed that Peter Pan is a great choice for this year’s production. “I think it works with the kind of people we have in our theater,” said Moltz.

  Although the story of Peter Pan and Wendy has evolved through the Disney movie, Susquehannock’s Theater has focused its plot on the novel. “It differs [from the movie] a little bit because it’s directly adapted from the novel that was written in 1911,” said Paules. “People are going to be surprised by how different it is.” With a few added scenes and plot changes, the play certainly does not lose its humor. According to cast members, the play is still just as family friendly and humorous as the movie.

 Other than the unique choice of the play, the process leading up to opening night seems to stay similar to past years. According to Anelli, the most obvious differences are the split casts, some of the leads double casted, and the fight scenes. The last time fight scenes were incorporated into a play at Susquehannock was five years ago in Romeo and Juliet.

  Perhaps the biggest difference in this year’s play is how far along it has come with a whole month to go. “We actually got a new technical director,” said Anelli. “Instead of Joe Kress we have Eric Paules. Joe had really good sets but started later on while Mr. Eric has started now so we have the set to work with.” Paules added, “This year we have a lot of stuff done early. It’s pretty cool how it all works together.” The cast of Peter Pan is the largest the theater has had and with many middle school crew members, interest in theater seems to be growing.

  None of this, however, could be possible without all of the hard work of both cast and crew. While rehearsal in October consisted of two nights a week for the cast, the commitment will increase as the end of November approaches. “November we’ll practice more often and by tech week you’re there every night,” stated Moltz. “We have one day where it is like a 13 hour day.” The schedule of the crew is even more demanding. Paules said, “Crew every week puts at least 18 hours in.  They work like eight-hour days on the weekends.” The hard work and commitment shown from cast, crew, and staff will not go unnoticed. Performances will begin on opening night, November 22 and continue through the weekend concluding on Sunday, November 24.

  Tickets can be purchased at the high school on Monday, November 18  through Thursday, November 21 from 10:00 a.m to 1:00 p.m. and again 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. For the last-minute audience members, tickets will be on sale at the box office one hour prior to every performance.