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Peter Pan was the boy who wouldn’t grow up, but Wendy Darling always had other plans. She would grow up, and she would do it well. Even in the original play, Wendy dreamed of a life beyond Neverland. The current Broadway version of the play now touring across the US gives those dreams more depth, exploring the role of Wendy through the broader lens of possibility.
“I think she has the same core characteristics as other iterations of Peter Pan,” Hawa Kamara, who plays Wendy on stage, said. “But there’s more emphasis on her as a person, rather than her identity as entertained with the boys. She still wants to become a person who helps people, but she wants to be a surgeon. So she’s more than what she used to be.”
For Kamara, who makes her professional debut with the role, playing Wendy gives her an opportunity to be a role model to all the young women and girls in the audience who dare to dream of a larger world.
“I like making stories for people who haven’t seen themselves in a certain situation,” Kamara said. “Seeing a black woman playing Wendy will provide a narrative that no one’s ever seen before. It’s a different story. It’s about representation. About letting people see themselves in a way they never have before. I’m a black woman. I was raised African Muslim. I’m excited for people to see that, and for me to represent our culture. I’m just excited to be there, and to represent myself.”
The 23-year-old actress is also the first woman of color to play Wendy Darling on stage. Peter Pan’s Director Lonny Price said, “I also want to celebrate Hawa Kamara, making her professional debut as Wendy… A wildly charismatic young actress.”
As a musical, Peter Pan has been thrilling audiences for nearly 70 years. This newly-imagined production continues the high-flying adventure with fairies, pirates, sword fights and fantasy, but with a few additions to bring it into the modern era.
“There [are] no drastic changes,” Kamara said. “But I think honestly, the diversity in the family. I really appreciate that. We talk about a viral video at one point, and Ms. Darling takes my iPad right before I head to bed. I can remember being a kid and my parents doing that. So little things like that bring it to today. It’s small tweaks but it all wraps up together.”
Based on J.M. Barrie’s classic tale, Peter Pan is a rite-of-passage story universally loved and cherished.
“If you’ve never seen Peter Pan, for anyone truly, it’s going to be a lot of magic,” Kamara said. “It’s all about the fear of growing up and being able to celebrate your youth and innocence, that childhood joy before you’re hit by the tribulations of adulthood. And it has a magical trip into a fairy land.”
Peter Pan will play at Bass Concert Hall Tuesday through Sunday, Dec. 10 - 15, Tuesday -Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. Tickets start at $30 and are available at texasperformingarts. org and BroadwayinAustin. com, by phone at (512) 477-1444 or from the Texas Performing Arts’ ticket office at Bass Concert Hall.
